HOUSTON -- A Corpus Christi man condemned for fatally shooting a 5-year-old boy nearly 14 years ago has lost a federal court appeal of his conviction and death sentence, moving him a step closer to execution.

Larry Hatten, 34, contended a juror was biased against him and that he improperly was shackled during his capital murder trial in Nueces County. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling disagreed.

Hatten was convicted of killing Isaac Jackson, who was shot while he was in bed with his mother at their Corpus Christi apartment in 1995. The boy's mother, Tabitha Thompson, was shot four times with a .357-caliber pistol but survived. The boy was shot twice.

According to court documents, Hatten broke into the apartment of Isaac Robinson, the child's father and Thompson's boyfriend, kicked in a bedroom door and started shooting in retaliation for an escalation of quarrels among drug dealers. Hatten later would say he intended to kill Robinson, but he wasn't home.

In the appeal, Hatten unsuccessfully argued a juror at his trial knew Robinson and Hatten's stepfather, that the juror bought drugs from Robinson, lied about his drug use during juror questioning and was biased in favor of prosecutors. Hatten's appeal also argued the juror lied when questioned about the relationships at a court hearing.

The appeals court said the evidence was overwhelming, that Hatten acknowledged that he intended to kill Robinson and that he was identified as the gunman.

"The jury needed very little else to find him guilty," the court wrote.