Jamaal Howard executed in Texas days after Christa Pike survives botched lethal injection

Key points

• A Texas death row inmate, Jamaal Howard, has been executed just days after a botched lethal injection in Tennessee left another inmate critically ill. Howard, 46, was put to death for the 2000 murder of convenience store worker Vickie Swartout.
• Before his execution, he apologised to Swartout’s family. Meanwhile, Christa Pike, who survived two lethal injections in Tennessee, has regained consciousness but remains seriously unwell.
• Tennessee has suspended all executions for the year while authorities investigate Pike’s case and another failed execution.