Jamaal Howard Executed in Texas With Drug Used in Christa Pike's Failed Execution

A Texas man found guilty of killing a convenience store clerk in a robbery was put to death Wednesday evening, October 7, after the Supreme Court refused to block the execution. Jamaal Howard, 46, was declared dead at 8:03 p.m. He had received a death sentence for the 2000 slaying of Vickie Swartout, 42, in Silsbee, Texas. Before the execution, Howard's legal team cited the failed execution of Tennessee death row prisoner Christa Pike, who survived two doses of pentobarbital on Sept. 30. They contended that the same drug Texas intended to use might carry comparable risks. "Texas should not be eager to follow in Tennessee’s footsteps; a stay would keep that from happening," Howard’s attorneys argued in their filing. The Supreme Court turned down Howard's emergency appeal without giving a reason. According to Fox News, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only justice to publicly dissent. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had already denied two motions to halt the execution that were based on concerns about how the drug would be used. According to The Associated Press, when pentobarbital started to take effect Wednesday evening, Howard took a couple of breaths and gasped. He then made snoring noises, coughed, and began snoring again; the sounds became gradually softer. His movements reportedly ceased completely after about 30 seconds, and he was pronounced dead 19 minutes later. Howard's attorneys also stated in court filings that they had asked for details about the amount of pentobarbital the Texas Department of Criminal Justice planned to use for the execution. The concerns partly arose from Pike's attempted execution, in which she was reported to have survived two doses of pentobarbital. Howard was executed on the same day a Tennessee judge approved a request from Pike's attorneys ordering the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence tied to the failed execution attempt. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Pike is the first person in the modern era to survive a lethal injection. Howard's attorneys also told the Supreme Court that the execution should be stopped because he was intellectually disabled. The state, however, said his attorneys had not offered evidence showing he met the legal standard for intellectual disability. Howard was convicted of capital murder for Swartout's death; she was shot once in the chest during a convenience store robbery. Howard, who was 20 at the time, also removed $114 from the cash register during the robbery.