Texas executes Jamaal Howard after courts reject efforts to halt lethal injection

Texas executed Jamaal Howard, 46, by lethal injection at the state prison in Huntsville. He received pentobarbital and was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. after his attorneys unsuccessfully sought to stop the execution.

The execution took place Wednesday evening and was the first in the United States since last week’s failed attempt to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection.

Howard’s lawyers argued that using pentobarbital, the same drug administered to Pike, exposed him to similar risks. They also alleged that Texas’ supply had degraded; the claim remained an allegation by the lawyers.

Howard had been convicted and sentenced to death for murdering a convenience store clerk during a robbery in 2000.

His attorneys also asked Texas Governor Greg Abbott to delay the execution for 30 days so they could obtain more information about the drug. Abbott did not grant that delay.

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike was taken to hospital after an attempt to execute her with two lethal injections failed, her lawyer said. The lawyer's account described a failed execution attempt followed by hospitalization.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said he ordered a comprehensive review by an outside party to establish exactly what happened. In the same statement, he said the year's last remaining execution would not go ahead as planned.

Tennessee's execution protocol provides for a second set of drug syringes if the person does not die after the first set. It does not specify what should happen if the person remains alive after the second set.

The attempt followed a Supreme Court decision late Wednesday overturning a reprieve that a lower court had granted earlier that day. The lower court had paused the execution because it needed more time to consider the arguments in Pike's case.

Lawyer says Christa Pike hospitalized after failed execution attempt

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