Lawyers for a Texas man who fatally shot a convenience store clerk are asking a judge to stay his execution by lethal injection set for Wednesday, citing the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee last week.

This would be the first execution scheduled in the U.S. since Pike.

Because the same drug used in her attempted execution - pentobarbital - would be used in Texas for Jamaal Howard, his attorneys argued the drug poses the same risks, and said they believe the state's supply had become degraded.

Pike's lawyers are seeking more information about what went wrong after the 50-year-old survived two doses of pentobarbital. She was hospitalized and, as of Tuesday, was awake and speaking.

In a statement Tuesday, her attorneys said she was  conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,  but noted  her prognosis remains unclear  and  at a minimum  they  expect a long recovery. 

They also said  despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. 

One of her attorneys, Steve Ferrell, told  CBS Mornings  on Monday that doctors were working to clear her body of the pentobarbital and that she was on a ventilator.

Her attorneys have alleged her execution was marred by blown veins, where a needle goes all the way through a vein and causes a leak of blood and fluid, as well as Tennessee's deteriorated pentobarbital and a lack of emergency medical care.

 There is a similar risk,  Howard's attorneys wrote,  that Texas's execution drugs are likewise degraded, as they are far past the original beyond-use dates that the pharmacopeia allows for drugs of this kind. 

Texas has executed six people so far this year, with two more scheduled after Howard, which would be the 30th execution nationwide in 2026.



A killing caught on surveillance video

Howard, 46, was found guilty of capital murder in the 2000 killing of Vickie Swartout, 42, who was shot once in the chest during a robbery. Evidence presented at the trial included the store's surveillance video, which showed Howard shooting Swartout.

Howard, who was 20 at the time

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