A Texas man convicted by a Nebraska jury of a double murder will let a judicial panel decide whether he should face the death penalty.

Marco Torres Jr. was convicted on seven counts Thursday, including two counts of first-degree murder for shooting to death two Grand Island men.

Torres, who is from Pasadena, Texas, waived his right to have a jury determine whether he is eligible for the death penalty.

Instead, a three-judge panel will consider whether he should be executed. Two yet-to-be-appointed judges will join Hall County District Judge James Livingston on the panel. Livingston presided over Torres' trial.

A hearing date hasn't been set.

A law takes effect Tuesday making lethal injection Nebraska's only method of carrying out death sentences.