COLUMBIA, SC – On Friday, the state of South Carolina administered a lethal injection that resulted in the execution of Freddie Eugene Owens, a man convicted of murdering a convenience store clerk. The execution came amidst assertions from Owens’ mother and lawyers that the state was committing an injustice, bolstered by fresh evidence from a key witness in the case.
Owens, 46, was pronounced dead 20 minutes after his execution began at 6:35 p.m. at the Broad River Correctional Institute in Columbia, marking the first execution carried out by South Carolina in over ten years.
Owens was found guilty of the murder of Irene Grainger Graves, 41, a single mother of three. However, his lawyer, Gerald “Bo” King, asserts his client’s innocence, pointing to the legal errors, undisclosed deals, and manipulated evidence contributing to the punishment.
New evidence emerged when Owens’ co-defendant in the robbery, Steven Golden, signed a statement claiming that Owens did not shoot Graves and wasn’t even present at the crime scene. Unfortunately, the sworn statement from Golden didn’t influence the court’s decision nor result in a clemency from Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.
Before his death, Owens consumed a final meal with steak, cheeseburgers, chicken wings, fries, strawberry sodas, and apple pie. Owens offered no formal last words before his execution. Instead, he only said “bye” to his attorney before his death.
Previously, Golden had reached a plea deal with prosecutors, in which he testified against Owens, leading to reduced charges for himself. Recent statements from Golden admit that he felt pressure from detectives to implicate Owens as the co-conspirator.
Despite the new information from Golden, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled for the execution to move forward. This decision was based on alleged confessions Owens made to his girlfriend, his mother, and two police officers.