A Texas inmate was executed days after Christa Pike survived two doses of lethal injection in Tennessee, with Jamaal Howard’s final words directed towards the family of the woman he was convicted of killing.
Howard was pronounced dead at a Texas prison on Wednesday night after being given pentobarbital, the same drug used during Pike’s failed execution on September 30.
He had been convicted of fatally shooting convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout during a robbery in 2000. Surveillance footage showed Howard shooting Swartout in the chest before taking $114 and a carton of cigarettes.
Swartout’s relatives watched the execution from a viewing room near the death chamber. Before the drug was administered, Howard apologised to them.
“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.”
Howard’s lawyers had asked the courts to stop the execution, arguing that Texas’s supply of pentobarbital might have degraded and could create risks similar to those alleged in Pike’s case.
Pike survived two doses of the drug during her execution in Tennessee. Her attorney said they believed she was brain dead on Monday night, before she unexpectedly woke and began speaking.
Her lawyers have blamed blown veins, deteriorated drugs and a lack of emergency medical care for the problems during the procedure. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has halted the state’s remaining execution for the year.
As the pentobarbital took effect, Howard gasped, coughed and made snoring sounds before all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 19 minutes later.
