Texas to hold first death penalty after Pike case

Texas plans to execute Jamaal Howard. It will be the first such procedure in the US since the failed attempt to carry out Christa Pike’s sentence in Tennessee.

Lawyers for 46-year-old Howard asked to postpone the execution of the sentence, citing the risk of a recurrence of problems that arose during the procedure with Pike. A Texas court on Wednesday rejected the motion.

Howard was sentenced to death for the murder of 42-year-old saleswoman Vicky Sworthout during the robbery of a convenience store in Silsby in 2001. The defense also argued that Howard had an intellectual disability at the time of the crime and therefore could not be executed.

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the death penalty for people with intellectual disabilities. The procedure is planned to use pentobarbital - the same drug that was used in the attempt to execute Pike.

Pike's death sentence was attempted on September 30, she was found guilty of murdering a fellow student in 1995. Shortly before the procedure, the appeals court suspended the execution, but the US Supreme Court overturned this decision.

On October 3, Pike's lawyers reported that Krista remains unconscious in a critical condition and is connected to a ventilator. On October 7, the woman's lawyers said Pike had recovered but remained very weak and confined to a hospital bed. She can't swallow and eat, she has pneumonia, and her hands are swollen and barely move. It is not yet known if their mobility will be restored.