Who is Jamaal Howard? Texas carries out the first execution since Christa Pike’s failed lethal injection; here’s what we know

Jamaal Howard, who fatally shot a convenience store clerk in 2000, was put to death Wednesday evening (October 7, 2026). He was the 30th person executed in the US in 2026 and the first since Tennessee’s failed attempt to administer a lethal injection to Christa Pike a week ago.

The execution came after the US Supreme Court denied three appeals from the convicted killer, allowing the state to go ahead with his execution on Wednesday evening (October 7, 2026). According to news agency AP, Howard, 46, was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. 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. On being asked if he had a final statement, Howard apologized profusely to some members of his victim’s family, who watched through a window just feet from the death chamber.


“I wish that you accept my apology, and I wish for your forgiveness,” he said, shortly before the injection got underway, as quoted by AP. “I’m sorry for what happened. I wish you could learn to forgive me one of these days.” He also thanked his friends and family and said he loved them. He further stated that he was “in a good state of mind to find peace and the Lord, so I thank y’all.” He concluded with, "Hey, enjoy life, and peace to y’all.”

As the pentobarbital began taking effect, Howard took a couple of breaths and gasped. He then began making snoring sounds, coughed, and resumed the snoring sounds, each time the sound becoming quieter. Within about 30 seconds, all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 19 minutes later.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Texas court refused to halt Howard’s execution after his attorneys cited the failed lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee. The Texas execution was scheduled to take place later Wednesday and would be the first in the U.S. since Pike survived the attempted execution last week.

Citing pentobarbital, the same drug used in Christa Pike’s execution, attorneys for 46-year-old Howard argued to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that it poses similar risks. They also highlighted concerns linked to the quality of the state’s execution drugs.

The court denied the request for a stay and later denied a second attempt to stop the execution over the drug without any 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 earlier filing, as quoted by news agency AP. Texas has executed six people so far this year, with two more lethal injections scheduled after Howard. He would become the 30th person executed nationwide in 2026.

Here’s what we know about Jamaal Howard

Howard, who was 20 years old at the time when he committed the crime, hails from Hardin County, Texas. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), he was received at age 21 on April 26, 2001, following a fatal robbery committed on May 12, 2000.

The 11th-grade-educated worked as a laborer. Prior to the fatal robbery in robbing a Silsbee convenience store, he had no prison record. The death row information available on the TDCJ website reveals that at the time of the incident, he fatally shot Vickie Swartout, 42, once in the chest before fleeing with $114 from the cash register.

Store clerk's killing was caught on surveillance video

Evidence presented at trial included store surveillance video that showed Howard shooting Swartout, as reported by AP. He took $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store in the small, rural town of Silsbee, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of Houston, the news agency reported, citing court records.

His attorneys have argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that Howard's execution should be halted because he is intellectually disabled. But the state said his attorneys haven't presented evidence showing he meets the requirements for a claim of intellectual disability.

In 2002, the Supreme Court had barred the execution of intellectually disabled people. But it has given states some discretion in determining intellectual disability.