South Carolina resumed executions after a 13-year hiatus by putting inmate Freddie Owens to death for the 1997 killing of a Greenville convenience store clerk. Owens, 46, made no final statement before being executed by lethal injection, taking about 10 minutes to die. His last appeal for clemency from Governor Henry McMaster was denied. Owens allowed his lawyer to choose the method of his execution, opting to avoid making the decision himself due to his religious beliefs.
Owens was convicted of the murder of Irene Graves in 1999 and was also implicated in the killing of another inmate, Christopher Lee, while awaiting sentencing. Owens confessed to Lee’s killing, which was read to multiple juries and judges resulting in his death sentence. His attorneys argued that scientific evidence was lacking in Graves’ murder case, and that he suffered from brain damage due to childhood trauma and abuse.
South Carolina recently added the option of a firing squad for executions after facing challenges in obtaining lethal injection drugs. The state now uses a protocol involving the sedative pentobarbital. Owens’ execution marks the first in South Carolina after a decade-long halt, with five other inmates facing similar fates in the upcoming weeks. Since the resumption of executions, South Carolina’s death row population has decreased substantially, with many inmates having their sentences commuted or changed due to successful appeals or natural causes.
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