Texas court rejects request to stop man’s execution following failed lethal injection of Christa Pike

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Texas court refused Wednesday to halt the execution of a man who fatally shot a convenience store employee after his lawyers cited the failed lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee.

The execution was scheduled to take place later Wednesday in Texas and would be the first in the United States since Pike survived last week’s attempted execution.

Because Texas planned to inject the same drug used in Pike’s attempted execution — pentobarbital — attorneys for Jamaal Howard, 46, argued to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that the drug posed similar risks. They also expressed concerns about the quality of execution drugs provided by the state.

The court rejected the request for a stay without further details.

Pike’s lawyers are seeking more information about what happened after the 50-year-old survived two doses of pentobarbital on September 30. She was unconscious for several days in the hospital but was awake and talking Tuesday.

“Texas should not be eager to follow in Tennessee’s footsteps; a stay would prevent that from happening,” Howard’s lawyers argued in their filing.

Texas has executed six people so far this year, and two more lethal injections are planned after Howard. He would become the 30th person executed nationwide in 2026.

Inmate remained ‘talkative’ during journey to death chamber

On Wednesday, Howard was described as “talkative” during the 45-mile ride from the death row prison to the Huntsville unit where the executions take place, said Amanda Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

“He had small conversations with the police throughout the trip,” she said.

Once inside Huntsville Prison, he was taken to a small holding cell near the death chamber and remained talkative.

“He asked questions and was very engaged in the process,” Hernandez said.

Murder caught on surveillance video

Howard was convicted of capital murder in the 2000 killing of Vickie Swartout, 42, who was shot in the chest during a store robbery. Evidence presented at trial included store surveillance video showing Howard shooting Swartout.

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

His lawyers argued that Howard was mentally disabled and his execution should be halted. The state said he failed to present evidence showing he qualified for a claim of intellectual disability.

He appealed to the United States Supreme Court to stop his execution.

In 2002, the Supreme Court banned the execution of people with intellectual disabilities, but it gave states some latitude in determining intellectual disability.

Motion to stay because of drugs

The motion filed Wednesday with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals says Howard’s attorneys filed requests for information about the lethal dose of pentobarbital the Texas Department of Criminal Justice planned to use.

The attorneys said the department sought advice from the state attorney general on whether it should release the information.

The Texas attorney general’s opinion isn’t expected until Wednesday, meaning Howard can’t challenge any decision the state might make regarding releasing that information, they argued.

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

Executions in the United States 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.

Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended the latest execution for the rest of the year.