In brief
Jamaal Howard, 46, was executed in Huntsville, Texas, with pentobarbital, the drug used in the failed Christa Pike injection last week. His lawyers sought a stay, citing the same drug’s potential decay and the Pike case’s disturbing outcome, but courts and the Supreme Court denied the requests. Howard, convicted of murdering a convenience‑store clerk in 2000, apologized to the victim’s family before he died at 8:03 p.m. local time. The execution underscores ongoing tensions over lethal‑injection protocols and Texas’ willingness to proceed despite recent controversies.
A Texas death‑row inmate was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday evening, marking the first execution in the United States since the botched attempt to put Christa Pike to death last week.
Jamaal Howard, 46, had requested a judicial pause in light of the Pike incident, arguing that the same pentobarbital drug and degraded supply presented a risk of a botched execution. However, local and federal courts denied the appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court turned down the case later the same day.
Howard received a fatal dose of pentobarbital at the state prison in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at 20:03 local time. His conviction stemmed from the 2000 murder of Vickie Swartout, a 42‑year‑old convenience‑store clerk, during a robbery in which he stole cigarettes and $114 from the register.
During the execution, Howard apologized to Swartout’s family from a witness room, saying, “I wish that you accept my apology, and I wish for your forgiveness. I’m sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days.”
Governor Greg Abbott refused to grant a 30‑day delay for additional drug testing, keeping the execution schedule intact. The event has reignited debate over Texas’s lethal‑injection methods and the ethics of capital punishment.
