DALLAS (AP) — A Texas man who shot and killed a convenience store clerk will be put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday in what will be the 30th U.S. execution this year.
Jamaal Howard, 46, was convicted of capital murder in the 2000 death of Vickie Swartout, 42, who was shot in the chest. Christa Pike will receive a fatal dose of pentobarbital in the first U.S. execution since Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her last week.
Read more: Krista Peck’s lawyer says she’s conscious and talking after failed execution bid in Tennessee
Parker’s attorney said Tuesday that Parker was conscious and talking while being treated at the hospital.
Texas has executed six people so far this year, and Howard plans to execute two more later.
A murder was caught on surveillance
Swartet was shot and killed during a store robbery in the rural town of Silsbee, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northeast of Houston. Evidence presented at the trial included store surveillance footage showing Howard shooting Swartter.
Court records show Howard, then 20, took $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store.
Read more: Many states have backup execution plans, but failures still happen
His attorneys argued that Howard suffered from an intellectual disability and that his execution should be halted. The state said he provided no evidence that he met the requirements for an intellectual disability claim.
He has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution.
Read more: Krista Gayle Pike is not the first person in Tennessee to have a failed execution this year. Here’s what you need to know
In 2002, the Supreme Court banned the death penalty for people with intellectual disabilities. But it gives states some discretion in how to determine such disabilities.
The United States will carry out executions this year
Florida has carried out 16 executions so far this year, the most of any state. Most states that allow executions use lethal injection as the primary method.
A free press is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy.
Support trustworthy journalism and civil dialogue.