FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Convicted child killer Lionel Tate will have a new attorney defending him.

Attorney Ellis Rubin said Tate's aunt and mother asked him to take over the 18-year-old's case from a public defender with whom Tate had been clashing.

Tate, known best for his conviction in a so-called "wrestling death," is accused of violating terms of his probation for allegedly robbing a pizza delivery man.

He was scheduled to appear in court Monday, but threatened to kill himself in a letter to a judge, causing the postponement of the hearing that could have sent him back to prison for life.

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 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.

His new attorney has made a career defending controversial and notorious clients.

A psychological evaluation of Tate was ordered. That hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19.