Texas announced the execution of 46‑year‑old Jamaal Howard on Wednesday evening, marking the state’s first lethal‑injection death in the United States after the botched execution of Christa Pike a month earlier.
Howard, convicted of murdering a convenience‑store clerk during a robbery in 2000, had repeatedly asked state courts to halt his execution over concerns that the pentobarbital drug used in Pike’s case might be degraded.
Both local and federal appeals were denied, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final request on Wednesday, leaving the state to proceed with the fatal dose at the Huntsville prison.
Governor Greg Abbott refused a 30‑day stay in hopes of reviewing the drug’s condition, insisting the execution proceed as scheduled.
Before his death at 20:03 local time, Howard addressed the witness room, saying, 'I wish that you accept my apology, and I wish for your forgiveness,' and added his hope that the victim’s family might one day forgive him.
