A death row prisoner in Texas was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday, marking the first execution in the United Kingdom since a failed attempt on Christa Pike last week. Lawyers for the condemned had asked a judge to pause the execution because the same drug used on Pike, pentobarbital, might present dangerous risks, and because the drug supply could be degraded. Courts denied the requests, and the state’s deputy attorney general declined a 30‑day stay requested by the inmate’s attorneys. The United States Supreme Court also turned down the appeal later that evening.
Jamaal Howard, 46, was found dead at 20:03 local time in the prison in Huntsville after receiving a fatal dose of the drug. He had been convicted and sentenced to death for the 2000 murder of a convenience-store clerk, Vickie Swartout, who had aged 42 when he shot her during a robbery. The victim had been working at a local shop when Howard stole a carton of cigarettes and $114 from the register.
Before his execution, the inmate apologized to the victim’s family, saying, “I wish that you accept my apology, and I wish for your forgiveness. I’m sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days.”
