Texas set to carry out first US execution since botched lethal injection of Christa Pike
Summary
Texas plans to carry out a death penalty execution on Wednesday, the first in the US since a recent failed lethal injection in Tennessee. Lawyers for Jamaal Howard, the Texas inmate scheduled for execution, are trying to stop it, arguing the risks are similar to those in the Tennessee case and that Howard is intellectually disabled.Key Facts
- Texas will perform its first execution since the botched lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee last week.
- Jamaal Howard, 46, is on death row for murdering a convenience store clerk in 2001.
- Howard’s lawyers argue he is intellectually disabled and should not receive the death penalty, citing a 2002 Supreme Court ruling.
- Pike survived two doses of a sedative called pentobarbital, the same drug Texas plans to use for Howard.
- Pike’s execution was painful and failed, leading Tennessee’s governor to stop lethal injections for the year and investigate the problem.
- Howard’s legal team claims Texas’s execution drugs might be expired or degraded, increasing risks.
- A court recently rejected a request to stop Howard’s execution; his lawyers continue seeking information about the drug dose.
- Texas authorities have not publicly commented on the situation as of Wednesday morning.
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