A Texas death row inmate convicted of a 2000 murder inside a Silsbee convenience store is scheduled to be executed Wednesday evening at the Huntsville Unit.
Jamaal Howard, now 46, was 20 years old when he shot and killed clerk Vicki Lee Swartout in May 2000. According to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records, Howard (TDCJ #999383) was received from Hardin County on April 26, 2001, and has spent more than a quarter century on death row. He stole $114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store, Jasper County outlet KJAS reported, citing Texas Department of Criminal Justice records.
A clemency campaign is underway. Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood of the Execution Intervention Project told KJAS that Howard has long been diagnosed with intellectual disabilities and severe mental illness and said he plans to attend the execution if it goes forward. The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has urged Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute the sentence, pointing to a schizophrenia diagnosis and a full-scale IQ score of 74, within the range of borderline intellectual functioning. Appellate courts have previously rejected arguments based on intellectual disability and have upheld the conviction and death sentence.
Texas executions are carried out at the Huntsville Unit in Walker County. The scheduled date is Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Sources: KJAS, “Texas group trying to stop upcoming execution of a man who shot and killed a Silsbee store clerk in 2000”, Texas Department of Criminal Justice scheduled executions, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty action alert for Jamaal Howard.