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A Texas death row inmate has been put to death by lethal injection — despite protests following Christa Pike’s botched execution last week.
Jamaal Howard, 46, is the first inmate to be executed in the United States since Pike, 50, survived two doses of lethal injection last Wednesday.
Howard, who was convicted of fatally shooting convenience store clerk Vickie Swartout during a robbery in 2000, was administered pentobarbital — the same drug used in Pike’s attempted execution in Tennessee.
His lawyers have made two requests to stop the execution, claiming to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that the drug poses similar risks.
They raised concerns about its quality, claiming the drugs were “degraded” and “well past the original use-by dates”.
However, the court rejected the stay requests without elaboration.
Howard’s lawyers had also unsuccessfully argued to the US Supreme Court that his execution should be halted because he was intellectually disabled.
However, the state told the court that Howard’s attorneys presented no evidence showing that he met the requirements for such a claim.
It comes after lawyers for Pike, who is believed to be the first person to survive an execution by lethal injection in the United States, said Wednesday that she had spoken her first words since regaining consciousness in hospital.
They revealed that Pike said “‘where am I?” and ‘who are you?'” – adding that she is “angry and confused about everything right now”.
Her defense team also said she remains cognitively confused and unable to move or swallow. They said she was brain dead as early as Monday.
At a hearing Wednesday, a judge granted a motion by Pike’s legal team requiring the state of Tennessee to preserve relevant evidence of the botched execution.
Pike’s lawyers described the ruling as “just the first step of many to preserve and enforce Christy’s constitutional rights”, while the judge said the case was “unique to say the least”.
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