Texas carries out first US execution since Christa Pike's botched lethal injection

Texas has executed Jamaal Howard, 46, making it the first US execution since Christa Pike's botched lethal injection in Tennessee. Howard was pronounced dead after receiving a lethal dose of pentobarbital at the state prison in Huntsville. His lawyers had argued that Texas faced similar risks due to the same lethal injection drug used in Pike's failed execution.

Despite their requests, the Texas court of criminal appeals and the US Supreme Court denied their pleas, both decisions without explanation. Howard is the sixth person executed in Texas this year and the 30th person put to death across the US in 2026.

Brief written by urgent.news from Times of India's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.