Texas executes Jamaal Howard after courts reject appeals citing Tennessee’s failed lethal injection
publishers 35articles 40first reported 1 Oct, 11:00 UTCdeveloping since 1 Oct · 25 editions
Texas executed Jamaal Howard by lethal injection on Wednesday evening, carrying out the first U.S. execution since Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute Christa Pike on Sept. 30.
Howard, 46, received a fatal dose of pentobarbital at the state prison in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. local time. He had been sentenced to death for fatally shooting convenience-store clerk Vickie Swartout, 42, during a 2000 robbery in which he stole cigarettes and $114.
Howard’s lawyers sought a stay, arguing that Texas planned to use the same drug administered to Pike and alleging that the state’s supply may have degraded. Courts twice rejected the requests, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied a final appeal Wednesday. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also did not grant a requested 30-day delay. Before his execution, Howard apologized to Swartout’s family and asked for their forgiveness, according to U.S. media reports.
Pike, 50, was discharged from a hospital and returned to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, her attorneys said Saturday. She continues to receive medical care after surviving two doses of pentobarbital during Tennessee’s attempt to execute her for the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer.
Tennessee officials have not said what caused the execution to fail. Gov. Bill Lee postponed the state’s remaining scheduled execution this year and ordered a review of the incident.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 4 with the publisher's own text; 7 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one (6 if wire copies count as one too); this version written 230 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 35
- Source articles
- 40
- Given to the writer
- 8, 4 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 7 (6 if wire copies count as one)
- This version written
- 230 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- revised
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: Fix the unsupported facility spelling and clarify that Pike's return to prison was reported after Howard's execution. - "returned to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center": The facility name in the sources is Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Fortune and Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Centre/Center in Dawn/CNA; the story's spelling is unsupported. - "Pike, 50, has meanwhile been discharged from a hospital and returned to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, her attorneys said Saturday.": The sources say Pike was discharged from the hospital and moved back to prison on Saturday, but the story's placement after Wednesday's execution could misleadingly imply this had happened by Wednesday.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Texas executes Jamaal Howard after courts reject appeals citing Tennessee’s failed lethal injection
Texas executed Jamaal Howard by lethal injection on Wednesday evening, carrying out the first U.S. execution since Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute Christa Pike on Sept. 30.
Howard, 46, received a fatal dose of pentobarbital at the state prison in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. local time. He had been sentenced to death for fatally shooting convenience-store clerk Vickie Swartout, 42, during a 2000 robbery in which he stole cigarettes and $114.
Howard’s lawyers sought a stay, arguing that Texas planned to use the same drug administered to Pike and alleging that the state’s supply may have degraded. Courts twice rejected the requests, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied a final appeal Wednesday. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also did not grant a requested 30-day delay. Before his execution, Howard apologized to Swartout’s family and asked for their forgiveness, according to U.S. media reports.
Pike, 50, has meanwhile beenwas discharged from a hospital and returned to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, her attorneys said Saturday. She continues to receive medical care after surviving two doses of pentobarbital during Tennessee’s attempt to execute her for the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer.
Tennessee officials have not said what caused the execution to fail. Gov. Bill Lee postponed the state’s remaining scheduled execution this year and ordered a review of the incident.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →