USA - Texas. Jamaal Howard, 46, Black, was executed on October 7

October 7, 2026 - Texas. Jamaal Howard, 46, Black, was executed on October 7

Jamaal Howard, 46, was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. after receiving a fatal dose of pentobarbital at the state prison in Huntsville. He was convicted of killing Vickie Swartout, 42, in a 2000 store robbery caught on surveillance video.

Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Howard apologized profusely to some members of his victim’s family, who watched through a window just feet from the death chamber.

“I wish that you accept my apology and I wish for your forgiveness,” he said, shortly before the injection got underway. “I’m sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days.”

He also thanked his friends and family and said he loved them, adding he was “in a good state of mind to find peace and the Lord, so I thank y’all.” He concluded with: “Hey, enjoy life, and peace to y’all.”

As the pentobarbital began taking effect, Howard took a couple of breaths and gasped. He then began making snoring sounds, coughed and resumed the snoring sounds, each time the sound becoming quieter. Within about 30 seconds, all movement stopped.

He was pronounced dead 19 minutes later.

His sister was among witnesses watching through a window from an adjacent room and became distraught, exclaiming several times: “Get me out of here.” She was assisted by corrections officers in exiting the witness room.

Howard’s attorneys unsuccessfully sought to block the execution by arguing that he was intellectually disabled and that he faced risks similar to those in Pike’s case because both states use pentobarbital for lethal injections.

Howard was convicted in the killing of Swartout, who was shot once in the chest during the robbery. Evidence presented at trial included surveillance video showing Howard shooting Swartout.

Howard, who was 20 at the time, took $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store in Silsbee, a small, rural town about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of Houston, according to court records.

In bidding to halt Howard’s execution, his attorneys had filed a motion hours earlier before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals raising concerns about the quality of Texas’ execution drugs. The court denied that request and a second filing involving the drugs without comment.

His attorneys also argued unsuccessfully to the U.S. Supreme Court that Howard’s execution should be halted because he was intellectually disabled. The Supreme Court in 2002 had barred the execution of intellectually disabled people, though it gave states some discretion in determining such disabilities.

The state told the court that Howard’s lawyers did not present evidence that would show he meets the requirements for a claim of intellectual disability.

The high court late Wednesday declined to intervene, without comment, clearing the way for the execution.

Howard becomes the 7th execution in Texas this year and the 603rd since Texas resumed executions in 1982, the 30th person to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1,684th overall since the nation resumed executions in 1977.