Texas carried out an execution by lethal injection on Wednesday evening, the first in the US since Tennessee's failed attempt to execute Christa Pike last week.
Jamaal Howard, 46, received a fatal dose of pentobarbital at the state prison in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at 20:03 local time. He had been sentenced to death for the 2000 murder of convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout during a robbery. Howard was 20 years old when he shot Swartout, 42, stealing a carton of cigarettes and $114 from the register.
Howard's legal team sought to block the execution, citing Pike's botched injections. They argued that because Texas planned to use the same drug, pentobarbital, Howard faced identical risks. They also alleged Texas' pentobarbital supply had degraded, echoing Pike's lawyers' claims.
A judge twice denied the appeals, and the US Supreme Court rejected the case late Wednesday. Howard's attorneys also requested that Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, delay the execution by 30 days to allow additional investigation of the drug used. Abbott did not grant the delay.
Before his execution, Howard addressed Swartout's family, who watched from a witness room. "I wish that you accept my apology, and I wish for your forgiveness," he said. "I'm sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days."
Pike's execution in Tennessee last week raised questions about lethal injection procedures after reports that officials struggled to establish an intravenous line.