Texas set to execute man for fatally shooting a convenience store clerk during robbery in 2000
Howard’s lawyers are seeking a stay over Texas’s pentobarbital supply as he awaits a Supreme Court appeal on intellectual disability claims.
- On Wednesday, October 7, 2026, Texas scheduled the execution of 46-year-old death row inmate Jamaal Howard by lethal injection, marking the 30th execution in the United States this year. Howard was convicted of the 2000 robbery and shooting death of convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout in Silsbee.
- Howard's attorneys argue he is intellectually disabled, citing the 2002 Supreme Court ruling that prohibits executing individuals with such impairments. They report Howard has an IQ of 65, falling below the 70-point threshold for intellectual disability.
- Citing the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee last week, lawyers warned that Texas's pentobarbital supply may be degraded, noting the drugs are "far past the original beyond-use dates that the pharmacopeia allows for drugs of this kind."
- Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott did not respond to a 30-day reprieve request, while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and federal courts rejected last-minute stay efforts. Legal avenues have been exhausted.
- Dr. Jeff Hood, Howard's spiritual advisor, reported that the inmate believes the warden will "just come and shoot me in the head," revealing a profound lack of comprehension regarding the lethal injection process. This misunderstanding underscores concerns about executing someone with an IQ of 65.
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The 46-year-old man, convicted of a crime committed in 2000, suffers from serious mental health problems and intellectual disability. His spiritual counselor revealed that he does not even understand the protocol with which the State will execute him.
Inmate Jamaal Howard's lawyers are asking the governor to skip the procedure for 30 days.
Texas man's scheduled execution is first in US since Christa Pike
Lawyers for a Texas man who fatally shot a convenience store clerk are asking a judge to stay his execution by lethal injection, citing the recent failed attempted execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee. This would be the first scheduled execution in the U.S. since Tennessee's failed attempt.
Jamaal Howard was convicted of killing a cashier in 2000. His lawyers ask Governor Greg Abbott to delay the punishment thirty days.
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