HUNTSVILLE \u2014 The State of Texas is preparing to execute convicted killer Jamaal Howard Wednesday evening, but the execution remains on hold pending action by the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Word could come from Washington, D.C. at any moment.<\/p>\n
Howard, 46, was convicted of capital murder in the May 2000 shooting death of 42-year-old Vickie Swartout, a convenience store clerk in Silsbee.<\/p>\n
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a request Wednesday evening from Howard\u2019s attorneys to stop the execution, following last week\u2019s failed lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee.<\/p>\n
Howard\u2019s attorneys hope the U.S. Supreme Court will halt his execution.<\/p>\n
According to the Associated Press, Howard\u2019s attorneys have argued before the nation\u2019s highest court that their client should not be executed because he is intellectually disabled. The state maintains that his attorneys have not presented sufficient evidence to support that claim.<\/p>\n
Texas will proceed only if the Supreme Court denies Howard’s request.<\/p>\n
Failed Tennessee execution raises concerns<\/p>\n
Howard\u2019s attorneys also raised concerns about Texas using pentobarbital, the same drug administered during Tennessee\u2019s unsuccessful attempt to execute Christa Pike on September 30.<\/p>\n
Pike, 50, survived two doses of the drug. Her attorneys said she was initially unconscious and hospitalized following the failed execution but was awake and speaking by Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Howard\u2019s attorneys questioned the quality of Texas\u2019 execution drugs and sought information about the pentobarbital the state planned to administer.<\/p>\n
\u201cTexas should not be eager to follow in Tennessee\u2019s footsteps; a stay would keep that from happening,\u201d Howard\u2019s attorneys argued in a court filing, according to the AP.<\/p>\n
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied an earlier request for a stay without explanation.<\/p>\n
Howard described as \u2018chatty\u2019 ahead of execution<\/p>\n
Howard was transported Wednesday morning from the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, where Texas houses male death row inmates, to the Huntsville Unit, commonly known as the \u201cWalls Unit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amanda Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, described Howard as \u201cchatty\u201d during the approximately 45-mile drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made small talk with the officers through the whole trip,\u201d Hernandez told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Howard reportedly remained talkative after arriving at the Huntsville Unit.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was asking questions and was very engaged in the process,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice also released a \u201cDeath Watch\u201d log documenting Howard\u2019s activities ahead of the scheduled execution.<\/p>\n
TDCJ Death Watch Log:<\/p>\n
12:30 a.m.: Laying on bed<\/p>\n
2:00 a.m.: Sleeping<\/p>\n
5:00 a.m.: Sleeping<\/p>\n
6:30 a.m.: Standing at door<\/p>\n
8:15 a.m.: Talking with visitor<\/p>\n
10:15 a.m.: Talking with visitor<\/p>\n
11:30 a.m.: Talking with visitor<\/p>\n
Murder caught on surveillance camera<\/p>\n
Howard was 20 years old when he murdered Swartout during a robbery at a Chevron convenience store in Silsbee.<\/p>\n
The shooting was captured on the store\u2019s surveillance camera.<\/p>\n
Howard shot Swartout once in the chest before stealing $114 and a carton of cigarettes, according to court records.<\/p>\n
Swartout\u2019s family members are expected to witness the execution Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n
KFDM anchor Aaron Drawhorn is also at the Huntsville Unit as a designated media eyewitness to the execution.<\/p>\n
Howard\u2019s execution would be the first in the United States since Tennessee\u2019s failed attempt to execute Pike last week.<\/p>\n
KFDM will continue following developments from Huntsville as the state awaits action from the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HUNTSVILLE \u2014 The State of Texas is preparing to execute convicted killer Jamaal Howard Wednesday evening, but the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-459615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}