South Carolina carried out its first execution in over a decade on Friday, as Freddie Owens, a 46-year-old death row inmate, was put to death by lethal injection.
Owens was sentenced to death in 1999 for the murder of convenience store clerk Irene Graves during a robbery in Greenville when he was just 19 years old.
Owens was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. ET, as announced by state officials during a Friday evening press conference. He chose not to make any final statements before his death.
The execution went forward after South Carolina’s Supreme Court declined to intervene on Thursday, and Governor Henry McMaster refused to grant clemency.
Owens’ legal team made a last-ditch effort to delay the execution by filing for a stay with the United States Supreme Court just hours before the scheduled time, but the court denied the request.
Owens’ attorneys argued in their emergency motion that the state violated his due process rights by failing to provide essential information regarding the lethal injection drugs and the qualifications of the execution team. Despite these concerns, the court allowed the execution to proceed.
The execution was the state’s first by lethal injection since it resolved a nearly decade-long struggle to secure the necessary drugs to carry out the procedure.
South Carolina had previously faced significant challenges obtaining the required medications, leading to a prolonged hiatus in executions.
The crime for which Owens was condemned took place on November 1, 1997. Graves, a 41-year-old mother of three, was working an overnight shift at a convenience store in Greenville when she was shot and killed during the robbery.
Owens was convicted of murder, armed robbery, and criminal conspiracy two years later and was sentenced to death.
In addition to the 1997 murder, Owens confessed to killing a cellmate in 1999 while awaiting sentencing for Graves’ death, further solidifying his violent history, as reported by CNN affiliate WHNS.
The execution commenced at 6:35 p.m. ET, and two of Graves’ family members were present to witness the procedure.
An Associated Press reporter who attended the execution observed that the family members maintained a steady gaze on Owens, who was dressed in a green jumpsuit and covered with a white sheet.
“Didn’t look away from him until well into the process,” said AP reporter Jeffrey Collins. “There wasn’t like any animosity, or any, you know, anger or anything, they just kind of gave him a fairly intense stare.”
Despite the state’s determination to proceed with the execution, Owens’ case was not without controversy. His co-defendant, Steven Golden, signed an affidavit on Wednesday, just two days before the execution, asserting that Owens was not present at the scene of the robbery and murder. Golden also claimed he knew the true identity of the shooter but was not himself the gunman.
This statement contradicts his previous testimony during Owens’ 1999 trial and subsequent court proceedings, leading the South Carolina Supreme Court to reject the motion for a stay.
“This new affidavit is squarely inconsistent with Golden’s testimony at Owens’ 1999 trial, at the first resentencing trial in 2003, and in the statement he gave law enforcement officers immediately after he participated in committing the crimes in 1997,” read the court’s order.
The court also noted that Owens had previously admitted his guilt to five individuals, including law enforcement officers and his girlfriend. Given these conflicting narratives, the court saw no reason to delay the execution, stating, “The defendant has had his day in court.”
The order for Owens’ execution was issued by the South Carolina Supreme Court on August 23, and he was asked to choose his method of execution—lethal injection, the electric chair, or the firing squad—two weeks prior. Owens delegated this decision to his attorney, Emily Paavola, who selected lethal injection for him.
Owens’ execution had originally been scheduled for June 25, 2021, but was postponed when the state Supreme Court halted the executions of both Owens and fellow death row inmate Brad Sigmon. The delay was due to unresolved procedures regarding the state’s newly authorized firing squad method.
The firing squad became a legal option in South Carolina in May 2021, after the state faced difficulties acquiring lethal injection drugs.
At the time, inmates could only choose between the electric chair or firing squad if the necessary drugs were unavailable.
Owens and Sigmon’s attorneys argued that electrocution, the sole available method, was cruel and unusual, leading to the temporary pause in executions.
The introduction of a firing squad as an alternative execution method marked a significant change in the state’s capital punishment procedures, as it aimed to address concerns over the cruelty of electrocution and the scarcity of lethal injection drugs.
As the first execution in 13 years, Owens’ death by lethal injection closes a lengthy chapter in South Carolina’s capital punishment history, while the debates over the ethics and logistics of execution methods continue to resonate across the state and the nation.
