A Texas man convicted of killing a convenience store clerk during a robbery was executed Wednesday evening after the Supreme Court declined to halt the execution, despite his attorneys raising concerns about the lethal injection drug used in a failed execution attempt in Tennessee last week.
Jamaal Howard, 46, was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. He was sentenced to death for the 2000 killing of 42-year-old Vickie Swartout in Silsbee, Texas.
Prior to Howard’s execution, his attorneys pointed to the failed execution of Tennessee death 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.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had previously rejected two requests to stop the execution 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.
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 execution.
The concerns stemmed in part from Pike’s execution attempt, during which she reportedly survived two doses of pentobarbital.
Howard’s execution 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 execution attempt.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Pike is the first person to survive a lethal injection in the modern era.
Howard’s attorneys also argued before the Supreme Court that his execution 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 killing 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.
