FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Lionel Tate threatened to kill himself in a letter to a judge, causing the postponement of today's hearing that could have sent him back to prison for life.

Tate, known best for his conviction in a so-called "wrestling death," was examined over the weekend by a psychologist whose findings will be presented at a competency hearing Dec. 19.

Tate, 18, was scheduled to appear in court regarding a possible probation violation.

Judge Joel Lazarus received the letter Friday and decided the probation violation decision must wait until the findings of Tate's competency hearing.

In the letter, Tate wrote," I have asked my attorney to file a motion for a psychiatric evaluation, because I am hearing…voices and that I wanted to kill myself."

Tate is being held while awaiting trial for allegedly robbing a pizza deliveryman at gunpoint -- a violation of the requirements of Tate's probation.

Tate could be sentenced to life behind bars if he is found guilty of violating his probation.

Prosecutors say that Tate held up a pizza deliveryman at gunpoint on May 23.

Tate is on probation as part of a plea agreement after an appeals court overturned his initial conviction and life sentence in the 1999 killing of family friend Tiffany Eunick.

Tate, who was 12 when the girl was killed, was the youngest person to be sentenced to life in prison in modern American history. Tate first claimed that he accidentally killed Eunick, 6, while imitating wrestlers he had seen on television.