Jamaal Howard, 46, was executed in Texas on Wednesday 7 October, becoming the first prisoner in the US to receive a lethal injection since Christa Pike's failed execution in Tennessee a week earlier. He was given pentobarbital, the same drug used in Pike's attempt, and was pronounced dead at around 8pm.


The question he asked


Howard's spiritual adviser, Jeff Hood, said Howard did not appear to grasp what was about to happen to him. In the hours before the execution, Hood said: "Jamaal is still struggling to understand what is happening to him. Today, he asked, 'Why is everyone crying?' He cannot grasp why the people around him are grieving. Yet Texas is preparing to kill him anyway." Hood described Howard as "profoundly impaired", and told Metro before the execution: "When you talk about the lethal injection drugs, he thinks you are talking about drugs that would get you high or something. He really has no idea it will end his life. My worst fear is going into the chamber with him today, and him telling me he doesn't know what's going on."


The dispute over his mental capacity


Howard's legal team argued he has an intellectual disability and that the state had failed to take it into account. Texas maintained there was no evidence of an intellectual disability. His lawyers had also cited Pike's failed execution to argue that pentobarbital posed risks, but the US Supreme Court declined to halt the execution.


His final words


Howard spent more than 25 years on death row. Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, he repeatedly apologised to members of Vickie Swartout's family, who were sitting a few metres away in the witness area. He said: "I wish that you accept my apology and I wish for your forgiveness. I'm sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days." He added that he was "in a good state of mind to find peace and the Lord, so I thank y'all", and finished: "Hey, enjoy life, and peace to y'all." He was pronounced dead 19 minutes after the drug was administered. His sister, who was sitting among the victim's family, became increasingly distressed, saying "get me out of here" before leaving shortly afterwards.


The crime


Howard was 20 when he shot and killed 42-year-old Vickie Swartout, a convenience store clerk, during a robbery in Silsbee, Texas, in 2000. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. His was the seventh execution in Texas this year.