Execution Report: Jamaal Howard

Jamaal Howard, 46, was executed by lethal injection on 7 October 2026 in Huntsville, Texas for the robbery and murder of a convenience store clerk.

On Friday morning, 12 May 2000, Howard walked to a convenience store in Silsbee in southeast Texas carrying a gun he had stolen from his grandfather the previous night. After peering in the windows, he entered the store, went into the office, cocked the gun, and shot employee Vickie Swartout, 42 in the chest. Howard then took $114 from the cash register and reached over the dying victim to take a carton of cigarettes. The offense was recorded on videotape.

Court records indicate that following his arrest, Howard initially denied committing the crime until police told him it was recorded. He professed at the time to feel no remorse for his actions.

Howard's attorney's contended that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial. A jury found that he was competent. He was then placed on trial in front of a separate jury to determine his guilt.

Howard's lawyers claimed that he was mentally impaired and that he suffered from schizophrenia. The state's mental health expert claimed that he suffered from antisocial personality disorder and attention-deficit disorder, not schizophrenia.

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