COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina put inmate Freddie Owens to loss of life Friday because the state restarted executions after an unintended 13-year pause as a result of jail officers couldn’t get the medicine wanted for deadly injections.
Owens was convicted of the 1997 killing of a Greenville comfort retailer clerk throughout a theft. While on trial, Owens killed an individual incarcerated at a county jail. His confession to that assault was learn to 2 completely different juries and a choose who all sentenced him to loss of life.
Owens, 46, made no closing assertion. His final meal was two cheeseburgers, french fries, well-done ribeye steak, six hen wings, two strawberry sodas and a slice of apple pie.
When the curtain to the loss of life chamber opened, Owens was strapped to a gurney, his arms stretched to his sides. After the drug was administered, he mentioned “bye” to his lawyer and he or she mentioned “bye” to him.
He smiled barely and his facial features didn’t change a lot earlier than he appeared to lose consciousness after a few minute. Then his eyes closed and he took a number of deep breaths. His respiration acquired shallower and his face twitched for an additional 4 or 5 minutes earlier than the actions stopped.
A health care provider got here in and declared him lifeless somewhat over 10 minutes later at 6:55 p.m.
Owens’ last-ditch appeals had been repeatedly denied, together with by a federal court docket Friday morning. Owens additionally petitioned for a keep of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court. South Carolina’s governor and corrections director swiftly filed a reply, stating the excessive court docket ought to reject Owens’ petition. The submitting mentioned nothing is outstanding about his case.
The excessive court docket denied the request shortly after the scheduled begin time of the execution.
His final likelihood to keep away from loss of life was for Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to commute his sentence to life in jail. McMaster denied Owens’ request as nicely, stating that he had “fastidiously reviewed and thoughtfully thought-about” Owens’ software for clemency.
First execution in 13 years
Owens often is the first of a number of folks to die within the state’s loss of life chamber at Broad River Correctional Institution. Five different individuals are out of appeals, and the South Carolina Supreme Court has cleared the best way to carry an execution each 5 weeks.
South Carolina first tried so as to add the firing squad to restart executions after its provide of deadly injection medicine expired and no firm was keen to publicly promote them extra. But the state needed to cross a defend legislation holding the drug provider and far of the protocol for executions secret to have the ability to reopen the loss of life chamber.
To perform executions, the state switched from a three-drug technique to a brand new protocol of utilizing simply the sedative pentobarbital. The new course of is just like how the federal authorities kills folks on loss of life row, state jail officers mentioned.
South Carolina legislation permits condemned folks to decide on deadly injection, the brand new firing squad or the electrical chair in-built 1912. Owens allowed his lawyer to select how he died, saying he felt if he made the selection he could be a celebration to his personal loss of life, and his spiritual beliefs denounce suicide.
Owens modified his title to Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah whereas in jail, however court docket and jail data proceed to confer with him as Owens.
The crimes
Owens was convicted of killing Irene Graves in 1999. Prosecutors mentioned he fired a shot into the pinnacle of the only mom of three who labored three jobs when she mentioned she couldn’t open the shop’s secure.
Hanging over his case was one other killing: After his conviction, however earlier than he was sentenced in Graves’ killing, Owens fatally attacked Christopher Lee, whom he was incarcerated with at a county jail.
Owens gave an in depth confession about how he stabbed Lee, burned his eyes, choked and stomped him, ending by saying he did it “as a result of I used to be wrongly convicted of homicide,” in accordance with an investigator’s written account.
The confession was learn to every jury and choose who went on to condemn Owens to loss of life. Owens had two completely different loss of life sentences overturned on enchantment solely to finish up again on loss of life row.
Owens was charged with homicide in Lee’s loss of life however was by no means tried. Prosecutors dropped the fees with the proper to revive them in 2019 across the time Owens ran out of standard appeals.
Final appeals
In his closing enchantment, Owens’ legal professionals mentioned prosecutors by no means introduced scientific proof that Owens pulled the set off when Graves was killed and the chief proof towards him was a co-defendant who pleaded responsible and testified that Owens was the killer.
Owens’ attorneys offered a sworn assertion two days earlier than the execution from Steven Golden saying Owens was not within the retailer, contradicting his trial testimony. Prosecutors mentioned different associates of Owens and his former girlfriend testified that he bragged about killing the clerk.
Owens’ legal professionals additionally mentioned he was simply 19 when the killing occurred and that he had mind harm from bodily and sexual violence whereas in a juvenile jail.
“Mr. Owens’s childhood was marked by struggling on a scale that’s laborious to understand. He spent his maturity in jail for a criminal offense that he didn’t commit,” lawyer Gerald “Bo” King mentioned in a press release following Owens’ execution. “The authorized errors, hidden offers, and false proof that made tonight attainable ought to disgrace us all.”
South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty held a vigil exterior the jail about 90 minutes earlier than Owens was scheduled to die.
South Carolina restarts the loss of life penalty
South Carolina’s final execution was in May 2011. It took a decade of wrangling within the Legislature — first including the firing squad as a technique and later passing a defend legislation — to get capital punishment restarted.
South Carolina has put 43 folks to loss of life for the reason that loss of life penalty was restarted within the U.S. in 1976. In the early 2000s, it was finishing up a mean of three executions a yr. Only 9 states have put extra folks to loss of life.
Since the unintentional execution pause, South Carolina’s loss of life row inhabitants has dwindled. The state had 63 condemned folks in early 2011. It now has 31 after Owens’ loss of life Friday. About 20 folks have been taken off loss of life row and acquired completely different jail sentences after profitable appeals. Others have died of pure causes.