Select by gender or name

Murder of Vickie Swartout

According to Supreme Court documents, Jamaal Howard was 20 years old when, on May 11th, 2000, he stole a handgun from his grandfather and shot it off in the home. His family tried to convince him to hand it over and even contacted the police, but Howard didn’t give the weapon back.

The next day, he walked to a Chevron near his home in Silsbee, Texas, a town about 100 miles from Houston. Armed with the gun he stole, he walked into an office in the backroom where he encountered 42-year-old employee, Vickie Swartout.

He shot her once in the chest. Howard took $114 from the register and took a carton of cigarettes before fleeing the scene.

Swartout died, and it didn’t take long for detectives to zero in on Howard.

According to Supreme Court documents, during his interrogation, he tried to say he wasn’t the culprit, but when detectives informed him the crime was caught on surveillance, he confessed. He showed no remorse and did not say why he did what he did.

His competency was in question leading up to the trial. After a mental examination, Dr. James Duncan concluded “he may well be exhibiting an emerging thought disorder, possibly schizophrenia.” Another doctor agreed that Howard was not competent. Two other doctors disagreed and said he was competent.

At his trial, Howard pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors had his videotaped and signed confession, they also had surveillance video and the murder weapon. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.

Scheduled Execution and the fight to stop it

In early 2026, Texas announced that he would be executed by lethal injection on October 7th, 2026. Like most people on death row, he has advocates and lawyers fighting to save his life. According to KFDM, opponents of the execution said that he has intellectual disabilities and mental health issues.

CatholicsMobilizing says that he began to withdraw from family at 15, and at that same time, he started to hear voices and sounds in his head. They described him as a “model inmate” who has responded well to treatment and medication and is no longer a danger.

ActionNetwork said that he was shot in the head three years before his crime. They said he had chronic schizophrenia and intellectual functioning in the 65-to-70 range. They said he spent his time on death row coloring children’s coloring books.

In the United States, you cannot execute someone who doesn’t understand why they are being executed. Howard’s supporters believed he fell into that category and should have been allowed to serve out his life in prison.

The Christa Pike Effect

On September 30, 2026, Tennessee attempted to execute 50-year-old Christa Pike with two doses of pentobarbital. The drugs failed to enter her vein and instead went into her arm. The execution failed, and Pike was taken to the hospital, where she was unconscious for 6 days before waking up.

According to TheGuardian, Howard’s lawyers argued to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that there were risks associated with using the same drug to execute Howard. FoxNews reported that they also argued he was intellectually disabled, but the state said they did not present evidence that he met the legal criteria to be labeled as such.

They wanted a stay of execution, but the court denied them twice. In addition, the Supreme Court denied another last-minute appeal.

Execution

Once in the execution chamber inside the Huntsville Unit , Howard had the chance to speak, and according to APNews, he apologized to the Swartout family saying, “I wish that you accept my apology and I wish for your forgiveness.” He also said, “I’m sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days.”

His final words were addressed to his family and friends as he said he was “in a good state of mind to find peace and the Lord, so I thank y’all.” He finished with, “Hey, enjoy life, and peace to y’all.”

The execution started soon after with the pentobarbital flowing into his bloodstream. Within moments, he was unconscious and 19 minutes later, at 8:03 pm, he was pronounced dead.