Man who murdered a shop worker set to be executed by lethal injection

A Texas man who fatally shot a convenience store clerk is set to die by lethal injection on Wednesday, October 7.

Jamaal 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 US since Tennessee's failed attempt to put Christa Pike to death last week.

Pike's attorneys said Tuesday that she was awake and speaking as she received treatment at a hospital.

Texas has executed six people so far this year, with two more scheduled after Howard.

Swartout was fatally shot during the robbery at the store in the small, rural town of Silsbee, located about 100 miles (161 kilometres) northeast of Houston. 

Evidence presented at the trial included the store's surveillance video, which showed Howard shooting Swartout.

Howard, who was 20 at the time, shot Swartout once in the chest with a handgun stolen from his grandfather and took $114 as well as a carton of cigarettes from the store, according to court records.

His attorneys have argued that Howard is intellectually disabled and suffers from chronic schizophrenia, hallucinations, and a traumatic brain injury from when he was shot in the head during a drive-by shooting at age 17.

They say his execution should be halted on those grounds.

The state said that he has not presented evidence that would show he meets the requirements for a claim of intellectual disability.

He has an appeal to the US Supreme Court pending to stop the execution.