Lawyers seek to block Texas man’s execution, citing ‘similar risk’ to Christa Pike

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Texas is set to execute a man by lethal injection on Wednesday, marking the first attempt at the death penalty since Christa Pike’s botched execution last week.

Jamaal Howard was found guilty of capital murder in the killing of 42-year-old Vickie Swartout, who was shot once in the chest in 2000.

The 46-year-old is scheduled to receive a lethal dose of pentobarbital in the first scheduled execution since Tennessee’s failed attempt at putting Christa Pike to death last week.

Howard would be the nation’s 30th execution this year and the seventh in Texas, with two more scheduled after him.

Pike's attorneys announced on Tuesday that she was awake and speaking as she received treatment at a hospital. “Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care. Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed,” attorneys for Pike said in a statement.

“Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”

Her attorneys said they are grateful for the first responders and the medical team at the hospital “who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her.”

However, Zivot cautioned that it could be weeks or months before the full extent of her recovery is known, including whether her mental competency could be restored to a level that would allow the state to attempt another execution, as reported by the Associated Press .

Swartout was fatally shot during the robbery at the store in the small, rural town of Silsbee, located about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northeast of Houston. Evidence presented at the trial included the store’s surveillance video, which showed Howard shooting Swartout.

Howard, who was 20 at the time, took $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store, according to court records.

His attorneys have argued that Howard is intellectually disabled and his execution should be halted.

The state said that he has not presented evidence that would show he meets the requirements for a claim of intellectual disability.

He has an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court pending to stop the execution.

The Supreme Court in 2002 had barred the execution of intellectually disabled people. But it has given states some discretion in how they determine such disabilities.

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