South Carolina Inmate Dies by Lethal Injection in State’s First Execution in 13 Years

South Carolina’s First Execution in 13 Years

Con­vict­ed killer Fred­die Owens was put to death in South Car­oli­na on Fri­day, the state’s first exe­cu­tion car­ried out in over a decade. 

Owens, 46, was exe­cut­ed by lethal injec­tion for the 1997 mur­der of a Greenville con­ve­nience store clerk dur­ing a botched robbery.

Controversy Over Lethal Injection Protocol

South Car­oli­na’s exe­cu­tion of Owens was con­tro­ver­sial, as the state had strug­gled to find the nec­es­sary drugs for lethal injec­tions, lead­ing to an unin­tend­ed pause in executions. 

The state had tried to add fir­ing squads as an alter­na­tive method, but had to pass a shield law to keep the drug sup­pli­er and exe­cu­tion pro­to­col secret in order to resume lethal injections.

Owens was giv­en the choice of how he would be exe­cut­ed, per South Car­oli­na law, and chose lethal injec­tion. His last-minute appeals were repeat­ed­ly denied, includ­ing a peti­tion to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Witness Recants Testimony, But Not Enough to Stop Execution

Just days before the exe­cu­tion, a key wit­ness in Owens’ case con­fessed that he had lied on the stand about Owens’ involve­ment in the 1997 mur­der. How­ev­er, this was not enough to stop the exe­cu­tion from mov­ing forward.

Owens’ lawyers argued that the chief evi­dence against him was the now-recant­ed tes­ti­mo­ny, and that there was no sci­en­tif­ic evi­dence prov­ing he pulled the trig­ger. They also cit­ed Owens’ age and his­to­ry of brain dam­age from abuse as mit­i­gat­ing factors.

Despite these argu­ments, South Car­oli­na’s gov­er­nor and cor­rec­tions direc­tor denied Owens’ request for clemen­cy, clear­ing the way for the state’s first exe­cu­tion in over a decade.