South Carolina Executes Inmate for 1997 Murder, Ending 13-Year Hiatus

South Carolina has executed its first inmate in 13 years, administering a lethal injection to 46-year-old Freddie Owens, who was convicted of murder in 1999.

Owens received the death penalty for killing shop worker Irene Graves during an armed robbery in Greenville in 1997. Despite a last-minute sworn statement from his co-defendant, Steve Golden, claiming Owens was not present during the crime, the South Carolina Supreme Court refused to stop the execution.

The court found Golden’s new statement inconsistent with his testimony during the 1999 trial, where he stated that Owens shot Graves after she failed to open a safe.

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Owens was executed at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia on Friday evening, pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. local time (10:55 p.m. GMT) after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital. He chose not to make a final statement.

This execution ended a 13-year hiatus in the state, which had faced challenges in obtaining the necessary drugs for lethal injections. At the time of the crime, Owens was 19 years old, and the day after his conviction, he killed his cellmate, further complicating his case.

Owens’ legal team made multiple attempts to halt the execution, including two in September, arguing that Golden’s affidavit provided new evidence of his innocence. However, the court dismissed these appeals, citing contradictions between Golden’s recent claims and his earlier testimony.

Prosecutors highlighted multiple witnesses who testified that Owens had admitted to killing Graves, a 41-year-old single mother of three.

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Owens’ mother, Dora Mason, along with death penalty advocates, sought clemency, but Governor Henry McMaster denied their request. Just hours before the execution, Mason described the process as a “grave injustice.”

In South Carolina, inmates can choose their method of execution—lethal injection, electric chair, or firing squad. Owens deferred this decision to his lawyer, who opted for lethal injection.

Journalists present at the execution reported that members of Irene Graves’ family were in attendance.

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