Texas carries out nation’s first execution since Christa Pike’s failed lethal injection

Texas executed Jamaal Howard, 46, on Wednesday evening, becoming the first execution in the U.S. since Tennessee's failed attempt to administer a lethal injection to Christa Pike a week ago. Howard was convicted of fatally shooting Vickie Swartout, a convenience store clerk, in a 2000 robbery caught on surveillance video. Despite his attorneys arguing that he was intellectually disabled and facing similar risks to those in Pike's case due to the use of pentobarbital for lethal injections, the execution proceeded.

Howard apologized to the victim's family and expressed his gratitude to his loved ones before the lethal dose of pentobarbital took effect, causing him to take a few breaths, gasp, and eventually stop moving within 19 minutes. Texas has executed seven people so far in 2026 and plans two more executions later in the year.

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