Texas carried out the first U.S. execution this week after the botched injection of Christa Pike last week.
Jamaal Howard, 46, was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday evening at Huntsville State Prison, the first death penalty carried out in the United States in a week.
Howard’s attorneys had requested a pause citing the failed injections used on Pike, arguing that the same pentobarbital drug would expose him to similar risks. Two courts denied the request, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the end of the day.
Governor Greg Abbott declined a 30‑day delay that law‑makers hoped might allow further testing of the drug. Instead, Howard received a fatal dose of pentobarbital at 20:03 local time and was pronounced dead.
Howard was convicted of murdering a convenience‑store clerk, Vickie Swartout, in 2000 during a robbery. He was 20 when he shot Swartout, stealing a carton of cigarettes and $114 from the register.
Before the execution, Howard apologized to Swartout’s family. “I wish that you accept my apology, and I wish for your forgiveness,” he told the witness room. “I’m sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days.”
