DALLAS — A Texas man who fatally shot a convenience store clerk is set to die by lethal injection on Wednesday in what would be the nation’s 30th execution this year.
\n\nJamaal Howard, 46, was found guilty of capital murder in the 2000 killing of Vickie Swartout, 42, who was shot once in the chest. He is set to receive a lethal dose of pentobarbital in the first scheduled execution in the U.S. since Tennessee’s failed attempt at putting Christa Pike to death last week.
\n\nPike’s attorneys said Tuesday that she was awake and speaking as she received treatment at a hospital.
\n\nTexas has executed six people so far this year, with two more scheduled after Howard.
\n\nSwartout 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.
\n\nHoward, who was 20 at the time, took $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store, according to court records.
\n\nHis attorneys have argued that Howard is intellectually disabled and his execution should be halted. The state said that he has…
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