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He was pronounced dead at 20:03 local time.Howard was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2000 murder of a convenience store clerk during a robbery he committed.His lawyers had argued that because Texas planned to inject Howard with the same drug – pentobarbital – that was used on Pike, he faced the same risks.
They also alleged that Texas' supply of the drug had become degraded, as Pike's lawyers have similarly argued.A court twice denied their appeals and the US Supreme Court also turned down the appeal late Wednesday."Texas should not be eager to follow in Tennessee's footsteps; a stay would keep that from happening," Howard's attorneys had argued, CBS reported.Howard's attorneys also asked Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, to delay the execution….
The governor did not grant the delay.Howard was 20 when he shot Vickie Swartout, 42, who was working at a convenience store in Texas.
Howard stole a carton of cigarettes and $114 from the register.Asked if he had a final statement before his execution, Howard apologized to Swartout's family, who watched from a witness room, US media report."I wish that you accept my apology, and I wish for your forgiveness," Howard said.
"I'm sorry for what happened.
I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days."Christa Pike 'angry and confused' after failed execution, lawyers sayI interviewed Christa Pike 20 years ago – I can't stop thinking about herI've seen nearly 500 executions – but never one like Christa Pike's Lawyers for Jamaal Howard had asked a judge to pause the execution after Christa Pike's botched lethal injections.
