Texas executes man who killed convenience store clerk after lawyers sought to stop it, citing Christa Pike

A Texas man who fatally shot a convenience store clerk was put to death Wednesday evening, becoming the 30th person executed in the U.S. this year and the first since Tennessee's failed attempt to administer a lethal injection to Christa Pike.  

Jamaal Howard, 46, was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. local time after receiving a fatal dose of pentobarbital at the state prison in Huntsville. He was convicted of killing Vickie Swartout, 42, in a 2000 store robbery caught on surveillance video.

Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Howard apologized profusely to members of his victim's family who watched through a window a few feet from him.

Earlier Wednesday, Howard's attorneys unsuccessfully sought to block the execution by arguing that he was intellectually disabled and faced risks similar to those in Pike's case because both states use pentobarbital for lethal injections. 

The court denied the request for a stay and later denied a second attempt to stop Howard's execution over the drug. The court issued both denials without elaboration. The U.S. Supreme Court also denied a late appeal Wednesday evening without comment.

"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.  

Pike's lawyers were seeking more information about what went wrong after the 50-year-old survived two doses of pentobarbital on Sept. 30. She was hospitalized and, as of Tuesday, had regained consciousness and was speaking, her lawyers said, but she is unable to move her arms or hands. 

Pike's attorneys have alleged her execution was marred by blown veins, where a needle goes all the way through a vein and causes a leak of blood and fluid, as well as Tennessee's deteriorated pentobarbital and a lack of emergency medical care.

"There is a similar risk," Howard's attorneys wrote, "that Texas's execution drugs are likewise degraded, as they are far past the original beyond-use dates that the pharmacopeia allows for drugs of this kind."

Texas has executed six people so far this year, with two more scheduled after Howard, who became the 30th execution nationwide in 2026.

Inmate remained "chatty" on drive to the death chamber

On Wednesday, Howard was described as "chatty" during the 45-mile drive from the death row prison to the Huntsville Unit where executions are carried out, said Amanda Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

"He made small talk with the officers through the whole trip," she said, adding he was taken to a small holding cell near the death chamber, where he remained talkative.

"He was asking questions and was very engaged in the process," Hernandez said.

A killing caught on surveillance video

Howard was found guilty of capital murder in the 2000 killing of Vickie Swartout, 42, who was shot once in the chest during a robbery. Evidence presented at the trial included the store's surveillance video, which showed Howard shooting Swartout.

Howard, who was 20 at the time, took $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store in the small, rural town of Silsbee, located about 100 miles northeast of Houston, according to court records.

His attorneys have argued that Howard is intellectually disabled and his execution should be halted. The state said he has not presented evidence that would show he meets the requirements for a claim of intellectual disability.

The Supreme Court in 2002 had barred the execution of intellectually disabled people. But it has given states some discretion in how they determine such disabilities.

Motion to stay because of drugs

The motion filed in the Court of Criminal Appeals in Texas early Wednesday said Howard's attorneys had filed requests for information about the lethal dose of pentobarbital the Texas Department of Criminal Justice planned to use. They say the department asked for a state attorney general opinion about whether they would have to disclose that information, despite a "years-long practice of disclosing information." 

Texas officials did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday morning.

Executions in the U.S. this year

Florida has carried out 16 executions so far this year, the most of any state. Most states that allow executions use lethal injection as their primary method.

Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Lee has halted the one remaining execution for the rest of the year.

An execution date for former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, has been set for Dec. 3, and will take place at the same post where he carried out his attack, according to an email sent to the families of victims. 

Hasan is set to die by firing squad in what will be the first military execution since 1961. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said late Monday the plan to use an Army firing squad was recommended by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and approved by President Trump.