Freddie Owens, a convicted murderer, was executed in South Carolina on Friday, marking the first execution in the state in over a decade. The execution came after a prolonged struggle by prison officials to procure the necessary drugs for lethal injections. Owens was convicted for the murder of a convenience store clerk in Greenville during a failed robbery in 1997. While on trial for this crime, Owens killed a fellow inmate at a county jail, a crime he confessed to, leading to his death sentence.
In the execution chamber, the 46-year-old Owens said only “bye” to his attorney as he was strapped onto a gurney, his arms extended to his sides. He remained conscious for approximately a minute before his eyes closed and he began to take deep breaths. His breathing gradually became shallow and his face twitched for about five minutes before all movement ceased.
A medical professional declared Owens dead a little over 10 minutes later at 6:55 p.m. Owens’ numerous appeals were consistently denied, including a last-ditch effort to stay his execution filed in federal court on Friday morning. He also sought a stay of execution from the US Supreme Court.
South Carolina’s governor and corrections director promptly responded, urging the high court to dismiss Owens’ petition, arguing that there was nothing extraordinary about his case. Owens’ execution took place just days after a key witness confessed to lying on the stand about Owens’ presence at the convenience store during the 1997 robbery in which clerk Irene Graves was killed.
Steven Golden, a former friend of Owens, claimed he had struck a secret deal with prosecutors and lied about Owens’ guilt to avoid the death penalty himself. Golden stated in a court filing, “I’m coming forward now because I know Freddie’s execution date is September 20 and I don’t want Freddie to be executed for something he didn’t do.” Despite this revelation, it was not enough to spare Owens’ life.
His final hope was for South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to commute his sentence to life imprisonment. However, McMaster denied Owens’ request, stating that he had “carefully reviewed and thoughtfully considered” Owens’ clemency application. Owens was the first inmate to be executed in South Carolina in over a decade. Five other inmates have exhausted their appeals, and the South Carolina Supreme Court has paved the way for an execution every five weeks.
The state had attempted to introduce firing squads as an alternative execution method due to a shortage of lethal injection drugs. However, a shield law had to be passed in May to keep the drug supplier and much of the execution protocol confidential before executions could resume. State officials stated that the new lethal injection method follows the federal government’s process.
Owens was given the choice of his method of execution, as per South Carolina law. He could have chosen to die by firing squad or in an electric chair built in 1912. Owens was convicted of killing Irene Graves in 1999. Prosecutors said he shot the single mother of three in the head when she couldn’t open the store’s safe.
After his conviction, but before he was sentenced in Graves’ killing, Owens fatally attacked a fellow jail inmate, Christopher Lee. Owens confessed in detail how he stabbed Lee, burned his eyes, choked and stomped him. He told authorities he did it “because I was wrongly convicted of murder,” according to the written account of an investigator. That detailed confession was read to each jury and judge who went on to sentence Owens to death. He had two different death sentences overturned on appeal only to end up back on death row.
In his final appeal, Owens’ lawyers argued that prosecutors never presented scientific evidence that Owens pulled the trigger on Graves. The chief evidence, they said, was based on Golden’s testimony. Owens’ lawyers also said he was just 19 when the killing happened and that he had suffered brain damage from physical and sexual violence while in a juvenile prison.