Texas Executes Jamaal Howard, Fort Hood Killer Nidal Hasan Set For Firing Squad

Two death sentences are moving forward this week. One man will die by lethal injection in Texas. Another will face a firing squad at the same base where he killed 13 people. That was the plan for years. Now, the dates are set.

Howard Faces Execution in October

Jamaal Howard is scheduled to die on Wednesday. He will receive a lethal dose of pentobarbital. This marks the nation’s 30th execution this year. The New York Post reports this is the first scheduled execution since Tennessee’s failed attempt last week.

Howard, 46, killed Vickie Swartout in 2000. She was 42 years old. The shooting happened during a robbery at a store in Silsbee. Surveillance video showed Howard shoot her once in the chest. He took $114 and a carton of cigarettes. His attorneys claim he is intellectually disabled. The state says he has not met the requirements for that claim. An appeal to the US Supreme Court is still pending.

His final meal, although not yet detailed, was said to have stunned the prison guards when it came time to serve.

Hasan Gets Firing Squad Date

On December 3, a firing squad will carry out Nidal Hasan’s execution. The time is set for 1 p.m. Army Secretary Adam Telle made the announcement in an X post on Tuesday night. The execution will happen at Fort Hood. That is the very base where he carried out his massacre in November 2009.

Hasan killed 12 US service members and one civilian. He wounded 32 others. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the method. He said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended the firing squad. President Donald Trump approved it on Monday.

Hasan is the first service member executed since 1961. He was a former Army major and psychiatrist. During his trial, he informed the military judge that he was defending the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban. He was sentenced to death in 2013. His final appeal was lost in early 2025.

Official Statements on Justice

Parnell wrote a clear message about the timing. The Secretary of the Army will now set the final time and place.

Texas has executed six people so far this year. Two more are scheduled after Howard. Florida has carried out 16 executions, the most of any state. Most states use lethal injection. Hasan is the only one set for a firing squad.