By TopTrendReportTv
February 1, 2025
South Carolina Carries Out First Execution in Over a Decade
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina resumed executions after a 13-year pause on Friday, putting 46-year-old Freddie Owens to death by lethal injection. Owens, convicted for the 1997 murder of a Greenville convenience store clerk, was the first person executed in the state since 2011.
Owens’ death sentence stemmed from the killing of 40-year-old Irene Graves during a robbery. Prosecutors said he shot her in the head after she was unable to open the store’s safe. While awaiting trial, Owens also killed fellow inmate Christopher Lee in county jail, an attack for which he later confessed but was never formally tried.
After years of legal battles and changes in execution methods due to difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs, South Carolina moved forward with Owens’ sentence using a single-drug protocol with pentobarbital. The drug was administered as he lay strapped to a gurney, arms outstretched. His last words were a simple “bye” to his attorney before he lost consciousness. A doctor pronounced him dead at 6:55 p.m.
Legal Efforts to Halt Execution Fail
Owens’ defense team made multiple last-minute appeals, arguing there was no definitive forensic evidence proving he was the gunman in Graves’ murder. Two days before the execution, a witness recanted prior testimony placing Owens at the scene. However, prosecutors pointed to multiple other witnesses who claimed Owens had bragged about the killing.
His appeals were denied at every level, including by the U.S. Supreme Court just hours before the scheduled execution. Gov. Henry McMaster also rejected a clemency request, stating he had carefully reviewed the case and found no reason to intervene.
South Carolina Resumes Death Penalty After Long Hiatus
Owens’ execution was the first in South Carolina since the state struggled for years to obtain lethal injection drugs. The delay prompted lawmakers to pass legislation allowing the firing squad and an alternative method to protect drug suppliers’ identities. Moving forward, the state has plans to carry out an execution every five weeks, with five other inmates now out of appeals.
Owens, who legally changed his name to Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah while in prison, declined to choose between the electric chair, firing squad, or lethal injection, leaving the decision to his attorney.
Outside the prison, a group opposing the death penalty held a vigil, protesting the state’s return to executions.
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