Texas has executed 46-year-old Jamaal Howard by lethal injection, making him the first person put to death in the United States since a botched execution attempt left Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike alive last week.
Howard was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7, at the state prison in Huntsville, Texas, after receiving a fatal dose of pentobarbital — the same drug used during the failed attempt to execute Pike in Tennessee on September 30.
Howard was sentenced to death for the 2000 murder of 42-year-old convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout during a robbery in Silsbee, Texas. Prosecutors said the killing was captured on surveillance video. Howard was convicted less than a year later and had remained on death row for more than two decades.
Before the execution, Howard’s lawyers had asked the courts to stop it, arguing that he faced similar risks to those raised in Pike’s case because Texas also uses pentobarbital for lethal injections. They also questioned the quality and condition of Texas’ supply of the drug, but the appeals were rejected and the execution proceeded.
In his final statement, Howard apologised to Swartout’s family and asked them for forgiveness. He also thanked his family and friends and expressed his love for them before the execution was carried out.
Howard’s execution came amid heightened scrutiny of lethal injection procedures following Pike’s failed execution. Pike, 50, survived after receiving two doses of pentobarbital and was later taken to hospital in critical condition. Her lawyers said she regained consciousness this week and is now speaking, although she remains seriously ill.
The incident has prompted renewed questions about the reliability of execution drugs and procedures in the United States. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has suspended further executions in the state for the remainder of 2026 while an investigation into Pike’s failed execution is conducted.
