Texas set to execute man for fatally shooting a convenience store clerk during robbery in 2000
Howard’s lawyers argued Texas was planning to use the same drug involved in a failed Tennessee execution, but the state court denied a stay.
- On Wednesday, October 7, 2026, Texas scheduled the execution of 46-year-old death row inmate Jamaal Howard by lethal injection, marking the 30th execution in the United States this year. Howard was convicted of the 2000 robbery and shooting death of convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout in Silsbee.
- Howard's attorneys argue he is intellectually disabled, citing the 2002 Supreme Court ruling that prohibits executing individuals with such impairments. They report Howard has an IQ of 65, falling below the 70-point threshold for intellectual disability.
- Citing the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee last week, lawyers warned that Texas's pentobarbital supply may be degraded, noting the drugs are "far past the original beyond-use dates that the pharmacopeia allows for drugs of this kind."
- Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott did not respond to a 30-day reprieve request, while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and federal courts rejected last-minute stay efforts. Legal avenues have been exhausted.
- Dr. Jeff Hood, Howard's spiritual advisor, reported that the inmate believes the warden will "just come and shoot me in the head," revealing a profound lack of comprehension regarding the lethal injection process. This misunderstanding underscores concerns about executing someone with an IQ of 65.
269 Articles
269 Articles
On Wednesday, 46-year-old Jamaal Howard, who shot and killed a grocery store clerk during a robbery in 2000, was executed in the US state of Texas. The AP reported this, according to which it was the first execution carried out in the United States since the botched execution of Christy Pike.
Ekstra Bladet
46-year-old man's lawyers tried to have execution in Texas postponed after failed attempt in Tennessee
After the failed execution in the United States, the authorities continue to rely on the poison pentobarbital, which resulted in another death sentence being executed in Texas.
Who was Jamaal Howard? Texas man killed in first US execution after Christa Pike botch, his last words: ‘enjoy life...’
Jamaal Howard from Texas was put to death Wednesday evening, becoming the first since Tennessee’s failed attempt to administer a lethal injection to Christa Pike a week ago.
The case of Christa Pike, sentenced to death, continues to occupy the US. Now the poison with which Pike was to be killed was used in another execution.
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