Texas executed Jamaal Howard on Wednesday evening after the Supreme Court declined to halt his execution. Howard, 46, was convicted of the 2000 killing of Vickie Swartout, a convenience store clerk. He was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. in Texas.
Howard's attorneys had appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the lethal injection drug, pentobarbital, slated for use in his execution was the same drug used in the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee on September 30. Pike, who was sentenced to death, survived two doses of the drug. Howard's legal team contended that this precedent raised concerns about the drug's potential for a botched execution.
"Texas should not be eager to follow in Tennessee's footsteps; a stay would keep that from happening," Howard's attorneys stated in their filing. The Supreme Court rejected Howard's emergency appeal without explanation. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only justice to publicly dissent, according to Fox News.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had previously rejected two requests to stop the execution. In court filings, Howard's attorneys also argued that he was intellectually disabled, a claim the state maintained was not supported by sufficient evidence to meet legal criteria.
During the execution, witnesses reported that as the pentobarbital began to take effect, Howard took a couple of breaths and gasped. He then made snoring sounds, coughed, and the sounds grew progressively quieter. His movements reportedly ceased after about 30 seconds, and he was pronounced dead 19 minutes later.
Howard was 20 years old when he robbed the convenience store and shot Swartout, who was 42. He also took $114 from the cash register during the robbery. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Christa Pike is the first person in the modern era to survive a lethal injection. On the same day as Howard's execution, a Tennessee judge granted a request from Pike's attorneys to preserve evidence related to her execution attempt.