South Carolina resumed its executions after a 13-year hiatus, putting inmate Freddie Owens to death on Friday for the 1997 killing of a convenience store clerk during a robbery. Owens had previously killed another person while incarcerated, leading to his death sentence later on. His last meal included two cheeseburgers, french fries, a ribeye steak, chicken wings, strawberry sodas, and apple pie.
Owens, 46, made no final statement before his execution. He was given a lethal injection and gradually lost consciousness, passing away about 10 minutes later. His last-ditch appeals for a stay of execution were denied, with both the federal court and the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting his pleas. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster also refused to commute his sentence to life in prison.
Owens’ case exposed legal errors, hidden deals, and false evidence, according to his attorneys. They argued that there was no scientific proof that he had killed the store clerk, and that he was brain damaged due to previous trauma. South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty held a vigil before Owens’ execution, urging reconsideration of capital punishment.
South Carolina has cleared the way for a series of executions to take place every five weeks, with five other individuals currently out of appeals. The state had to pass a shield law protecting the execution protocol’s secrecy to restart capital punishment, which now includes the option of a firing squad. Owens, who changed his name while in prison, may be the first of several inmates to face the death penalty in the state’s Broad River Correctional Institution.
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