A Texas man convicted of 𝘬iᩚlling a convenience store clerk during a robbery was executed Wednesday evening after the Supreme Court declined to halt the exє𝔠uti☉n, despite his attorneys raising concerns about the lєthaℓ inje𝔠ti☉n drug used in a failed exє𝔠uti☉n attempt in Tennessee last week.
Jamaal Howard, 46, was pronounced dead at p.m.
He was sentenced to dєatᩚh for the 2000 𝘬iᩚlling of 42-year-old Vickie Swartout in Silsbee, Texas.
Prior to Howard’s exє𝔠uti☉n, his attorneys pointed to the failed exє𝔠uti☉n of Tennessee dєatᩚh row inmate Christa Pike, who survived two doses of pentobarbital on Sept. 30, arguing that the same drug Texas planned to use could pose similar 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 rejected Howard’s emergency appeal without explanation.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only justice to publicly dissent, Fox News reported.
Jamaal Howard was executed in Texas despite concerns about the lєthaℓ inje𝔠ti☉n drug used in Christa Pike’s failed exє𝔠uti☉n attempt.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice/AFP via Getty Images
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had previously rejected two requests to stop the exє𝔠uti☉n based on concerns about the drug’s use.
According to The Associated Press, as the pentobarbital began taking effect Wednesday evening, Howard took a couple of breaths and gasped.
Howard then began making snoring sounds, coughed and resumed the snoring sounds, which grew progressively quieter.
Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital on Sept. 30 — the first person to survive a lєthaℓ inje𝔠ti☉n in the modern era.
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
His movements reportedly stopped entirely after around 30 seconds, and he was pronounced dead 19 minutes later.
Howard’s attorneys also said in court filings that they had requested information about the dose of pentobarbital the Texas Department of Criminal Justice planned to use to carry out the exє𝔠uti☉n.
The concerns stemmed in part from Pike’s exє𝔠uti☉n attempt, during which she reportedly survived two doses of pentobarbital.
Howard was sentenced to dєatᩚh for the 2000 𝘬iᩚlling of 42-year-old Vickie Swartout (above) in Silsbee, Texas.
Courtesy of the Swartout family
Howard’s exє𝔠uti☉n took place the same day a Tennessee judge granted a request from Pike’s attorneys to order the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence connected to the failed exє𝔠uti☉n attempt.
According to the dєatᩚh Penalty Information Center, Pike is the first person to survive a lєthaℓ inje𝔠ti☉n in the modern era.
Howard’s attorneys also argued before the Supreme Court that his exє𝔠uti☉n should be halted because he was intellectually disabled.
However, the state said his attorneys had not presented evidence establishing that he met the legal criteria for intellectual disability.
Howard was convicted of capital murder in the 𝘬iᩚlling of Swartout, who was shot once in the chest during a convenience store robbery.
Howard, who was 20 years old at the time, also took $114 from the cash register during the robbery.
