Texas Proceeds with Execution Despite Pike Botch Concerns
Texas executed Jamaal Howard on Wednesday, becoming the first U.S. execution since the botched attempt on Christa Pike in Tennessee. Howard was put to death via pentobarbital in Huntsville after courts rejected his lawyers' requests for a stay. His attorneys argued the drug posed similar risks to the failed Tennessee execution and that Howard had an intellectual disability. The state denied the stay, and Howard was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. Central time. This is the 30th execution in the U.S. this year.
