PURCELL, Okla. — A federal appeals court has delayed a hearing in which an Oklahoma death row inmate is expected to make a final plea for mercy before his scheduled execution.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond wasn’t with the delay.

“The stay is frustrating, but we are proceeding with all legal avenues to allow the hearing to take place this week and to keep the execution on schedule,” said Drummond.

Two of the board’s members have resigned in recent weeks, and Kevin Underwood’s attorneys claim he has a right to a hearing before a full five-member board.

The 44-year-old Underwood is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Dec. 19 for the 2006 slaying of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin, who lived in Underwood’s apartment complex in Purcell, Oklahoma.

Underwood admitted to investigators that he killed the girl as part of a cannibalistic fantasy.