South Carolina has executed its first death row inmate in 13 years, carrying out a lethal injection on Freddie Owens.
Owens, 46, was convicted in 1999 of murdering convenience store worker Irene Graves during a robbery in Greenville in 1997. Despite claims from his co-defendant, who asserted this week that Owens was not at the scene of the crime, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the execution, citing inconsistencies with earlier testimonies.
The execution took place at the Broad River Correctional Institute in Columbia, where Owens was pronounced dead at 6:55 PM local time after being administered pentobarbital, a common anesthetic used in lethal injections. He did not make any final statement.
This execution follows a hiatus in South Carolina’s death penalty practices, which occurred due to difficulties in obtaining the necessary drugs for lethal injections. Owens had been on death row since being sentenced for murder, armed robbery, and criminal conspiracy.
On the day after his conviction, Owens committed another violent act, killing his jail cellmate. Witnesses during his trial recalled that Owens, with his accomplice Steve Golden, held Graves at gunpoint in an attempted robbery. Testimony revealed that Owens shot Graves after she could not unlock a safe.
Graves, a 41-year-old mother of three at the time of her death, became a symbol in the ongoing debate surrounding capital punishment. Despite multiple appeals for clemency, including objections from anti-death penalty advocates and Owens’ family, Governor Henry McMaster denied these requests.
Hours before the execution, Owens’ mother expressed her distress, calling the situation a “grave injustice” and reiterating her son’s claims of innocence. Owens opted for lethal injection, leaving the decision to his attorney.
Witnesses to the execution included family members of Graves, marking a somber chapter in South Carolina’s legal history involving capital punishment.
