South Carolina is set to carry out its first execution in 13 years after a long pause due to difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs.
Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia. Owens was convicted for the 1997 murder of Irene Graves, a convenience store clerk in Greenville, South Carolina, during a robbery.
Owens’ last appeals have been denied, and his only remaining chance for clemency rests with Republican Governor Henry McMaster, who has the authority to commute his sentence to life in prison. Governor McMaster has said he will announce his decision minutes before the scheduled execution, following historical precedent.
Freddie Owens was convicted of killing Graves after she told him and his accomplice, Steven Golden, that she could not open the store’s safe. Owens has maintained his innocence, with his lawyers arguing that no scientific evidence was presented at trial to prove he was the shooter. Two days before his scheduled execution, Golden signed a sworn statement claiming that Owens was not at the store on the night of the robbery, contradicting his trial testimony. Despite this new evidence, the South Carolina Supreme Court has refused to halt the execution.
In addition to Graves’ killing, Owens also confessed to the 1999 murder of fellow inmate Christopher Lee while awaiting sentencing. That confession has been a key factor in juries sentencing Owens to death multiple times, despite two overturned death sentences on appeal.
South Carolina’s last execution took place in May 2011. Since then, the state has faced challenges acquiring lethal injection drugs, leading to a halt in executions. To restart the process, the state passed a law allowing a new method: a one-drug protocol using the sedative pentobarbital. Additionally, South Carolina added the option of a firing squad in 2021 and passed a “shield law” to protect the identities of drug suppliers involved in executions.
Owens is one of several inmates on South Carolina’s death row who have exhausted their appeals. The state Supreme Court has cleared the way for executions to be scheduled every five weeks. Currently, South Carolina law allows condemned inmates to choose between lethal injection, the electric chair, or the firing squad. Owens allowed his lawyer to choose his method of execution, citing his religious beliefs against suicide.
Opposition to Owens’ execution has grown, with organizations like South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty planning a vigil outside the prison before the execution. Advocates argue that Owens’ troubled past, which includes childhood abuse and trauma, should be taken into account, as well as the new statement from his co-defendant claiming Owens’ innocence in the original crime.
South Carolina has executed 43 people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. With Owens’ execution scheduled for Friday, it could mark the beginning of more frequent use of the death penalty in the state.
The Associated Press and USA Today contributed to this report.
