Jamaal Howard executed in Texas days after Christa Pike survives botched lethal injection

A Texas death row inmate has been executed just days after a convicted murderer in Tennessee survived two lethal injections in a botched execution that left her critically ill.

Jamaal Howard, 46, was pronounced dead at a prison in Huntsville on Wednesday night after being administered pentobarbital, the same drug used in the failed execution of Christa Pike on September 30.

Howard was sentenced to death for the murder of convenience store worker Vickie Swartout, who he shot during a robbery in 2000.

Surveillance footage captured Howard shooting Swartout in the chest before fleeing with $114 and a carton of cigarettes.

Before his execution, Howard addressed Swartout’s family, who watched from a room near the death chamber, and pleaded for forgiveness.

“I wish that you accept my apology and I wish for your forgiveness,” he said.

“I’m sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days.”

As the lethal injection took effect, Howard reportedly gasped, coughed and made snoring noises before falling still, according to TMZ.

He was declared dead 19 minutes later, becoming the 30th person executed in the United States this year.

His lawyers had unsuccessfully attempted to stop the execution, arguing that Texas’ supply of pentobarbital may have deteriorated and could cause complications similar to those reported in Pike’s case.

They also argued Howard had an intellectual disability.

Woman wakes up after failed execution

Howard’s death comes as Tennessee authorities face mounting scrutiny over the extraordinary case of Christa Pike, who regained consciousness days after surviving an attempted execution.

Pike, 50, was given two doses of pentobarbital on September 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, but neither proved fatal.

She was rushed to a Nashville hospital unconscious and critically ill, suffering severe injuries to her arms from the failed injections.

By Monday, her legal team believed she was brain dead and expected doctors to withdraw life support.

However, she unexpectedly woke up on Tuesday and began speaking.

“But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone, including me, including her team, and including the medical team, Christa woke up and began talking,” her lawyer Randall Spivey told reporters on Wednesday.

“She is angry and confused about everything right now.”

“She is very aware that the state tried to execute her.”

Despite regaining consciousness, Pike remains seriously unwell and is facing a lengthy recovery.

Her lawyers said she has pneumonia, cannot swallow or eat, and has severe swelling in her hands and arms that has left her unable to move them.

It remains unclear whether she will regain full mobility.

Pike, who remains shackled to her hospital bed, has also reportedly been asking questions about what happened during the execution and about the family of her victim.

She was sentenced to death for her involvement in the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, a fellow student.

Her lawyers believe she is the first person in US history to survive a completed execution attempt and argue the ordeal violated constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has since suspended all executions for the remainder of the year while authorities investigate Pike’s case and another failed execution involving inmate Tony Carruthers in May.

In that incident, prison officials were unable to establish intravenous access.

A Tennessee judge has also ordered prison authorities to preserve evidence relating to Pike’s attempted execution, including syringes, drug packaging, intravenous equipment, restraints and internal communications.

Her legal team is now calling for her death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment, arguing the state should never be permitted to attempt to execute her again.