Inmate Executed in Texas
In Texas, 46-year-old Jamaal Howard lost his life in the first execution carried out across the US following a botched execution in Tennessee.
In the state of Texas, the first execution in the United States since the botched execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee has been carried out. Forty-six-year-old Jamaal Howard was put to death at the state prison in Huntsville.
Execution Carried Out
Jamaal Howard was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. after being administered a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital at the Huntsville prison in Texas.
Lawyers' Appeals and Court Proceedings
Howard's lawyers petitioned a Texas criminal court to halt the execution, arguing that the lethal injection drug used carried similar risks to the one used on Christa Pike in Tennessee.
The courts and the US Supreme Court rejected the defense attorneys' applications for a stay of execution without providing any reasoning.
Criminal History and Conviction
Jamaal Howard had been found guilty of shooting and killing 42-year-old store clerk Vickie Swartout during a grocery store robbery in 2001 in the town of Silsbee, north of Beaumont.
Last Words and Apology
When asked by the prison warden if he had any final statement, Howard repeatedly apologized to members of the victim's family looking through the window just outside the death chamber.
Botched Execution in Tennessee
Christa Pike had survived despite being administered two doses of pentobarbital and stated that her arms felt like they were going to explode. This incident was recorded as the second botched execution in Tennessee this year.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that no further lethal injections would be carried out for the remainder of the year and ordered an investigation into why Pike's execution failed.