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Jamaal Howard’s execution brings US executions in 2026 to 30
Forty-six-year-old Jamaal Howard was executed in Texas on Wednesday evening for the 2000 murder of grocery store employee Vickie Swartout. His execution brought the number of executions in the United States in 2026 to 30, while two more executions are scheduled in Texas.
The number of executions in the United States this year rose to 30 with the execution of Jamaal Howard in Texas. Howard, 46, died at 8:03 p.m. after being administered pentobarbital at the state prison in Huntsville.
Howard was convicted of capital murder for shooting grocery store employee Vickie Swartout in the chest during a grocery store robbery in Silsbee in 2000. Howard, who was 20 when the incident occurred in the city approximately 100 miles northeast of Houston, stole $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store.
Howard apologized to members of the Swartout family who witnessed the execution and asked them to forgive him. He thanked his family and friends and said he was ready to find peace.
Howard’s attorneys sought to halt the execution, arguing that their client had an intellectual disability. The attorneys also raised concerns about the drugs used in the execution but were unsuccessful before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in the execution late Wednesday night. Howard’s execution was the first carried out in the United States since a failed execution attempt on September 30, when Tennessee inmate Christa Pike remained alive despite being administered two doses of pentobarbital.
Seven executions have been carried out in Texas this year, and two more are scheduled. Florida has carried out the most executions in the United States this year, with 16.
Amanda Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said Howard remained talkative and chatted with officers during the approximately 45-mile journey to the execution facility in Huntsville.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee also halted the final execution scheduled in the state for this year.
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