Texas is scheduled to execute Jamaal Howard on Wednesday for the 2000 murder of convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout during a robbery. Howard, 46, was convicted of capital murder for the killing of Swartout, 42, who was shot once in the chest.
This marks the first scheduled execution in the United States since Tennessee's recent failed attempt to execute Christa Pike last week. Pike was reportedly awake and speaking as she received hospital treatment following the incident.
Howard's execution by lethal injection of pentobarbital would be the 30th this year in the U.S. Texas has carried out six executions in 2026, with two more scheduled after Howard's.
A Fatal Robbery
Swartout was killed during a robbery at a convenience store in Silsbee, a small town approximately 100 miles northeast of Houston. Surveillance video from the store, presented as evidence during the trial, showed Howard shooting Swartout. At the time of the crime, Howard was 20 years old and stole $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store, according to court records.
Howard's attorneys have argued that he is intellectually disabled and that his execution should be stayed. They are pursuing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2002 barred the execution of intellectually disabled individuals. However, the Supreme Court has granted states some discretion in determining such disabilities.
State Executions
Florida has conducted the most executions this year with 16. Most states that permit capital punishment utilize lethal injection as their primary method.
