South Carolina put inmate Freddie Owens to dying Friday because the state restarted executions after an unintended 13-year pause as a result of jail officers could not get the medication wanted for deadly injections.
Owens was convicted of the 1997 killing of a Greenville comfort retailer clerk throughout a theft. Whereas on trial, Owens killed an inmate at a county jail. His confession to that assault was learn to 2 completely different juries and a choose who all sentenced him to dying.
Owens, 46, was pronounced useless at 6:55 p.m.
When the curtain to the dying chamber opened, Owens was strapped to a gurney, his arms stretched to his sides.
Chris Carlson/AP
He mouthed a phrase to his lawyer, who smiled again. He appeared acutely aware for a couple of minute, then his eyes closed and he took a number of deeps breaths.
His respiration received extra shallows and his face twitched for an additional 4 or 5 minutes earlier than the actions stopped.
A medical skilled got here in and declared him useless about 13 minutes later.
Owens’ last-ditch appeals have 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 docket. South Carolina’s governor and corrections director swiftly filed a reply, stating the excessive court docket ought to reject Owens’ petition. The submitting stated nothing is phenomenal 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 dying 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 “rigorously reviewed and thoughtfully thought-about” Owens’ utility for clemency.
McMaster stated earlier that he would comply with historic custom and announce his determination minutes earlier than the deadly injection begins, when jail officers name him and the state legal professional common to ensure there isn’t a motive to delay the execution. The previous prosecutor had promised to assessment Owens’ clemency petition however has stated he tends to belief prosecutors and juries.
Owens was convicted of killing Irene Graves in 1999. Prosecutors stated he fired a shot into the top of the one mom of three who labored three jobs when she stated she could not open the shop’s secure.
However hanging over his case is one other killing: After his conviction, however earlier than he was sentenced in Graves’ killing, Owens fatally attacked a fellow jail inmate, Christopher Lee.
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 the written account of an investigator.
That confession was learn to every jury and choose who went on to condemn Owens to dying. Owens had two completely different dying sentences overturned on enchantment solely to finish up again on dying row.
Owens was charged with homicide in Lee’s dying however was by no means tried. Prosecutors dropped the fees with the precise to revive them in 2019 across the time Owens ran out of standard appeals.
Owens will be the first of a number of inmates to die in South Carolina’s dying chamber at Broad River Correctional Establishment. 5 different inmates are out of appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court docket has cleared the way in which 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 medication expired and no firm was prepared to publicly promote them extra. However the state needed to cross a protect legislation conserving the drug provider and far of the protocol for executions secret to have the ability to reopen the dying chamber.
To hold out executions, the state switched from a three-drug technique to a brand new protocol of utilizing simply the sedative pentobarbital. The brand new course of is just like how the federal authorities kills inmates, in accordance with state jail officers.
South Carolina legislation permits condemned inmates to decide on deadly injection, the brand new firing squad or the electrical chair inbuilt 1912. Owens allowed his lawyer to decide on how he died, saying he felt if he made the selection he can be a celebration to his personal dying and his spiritual beliefs denounce suicide.
South Carolina’s final execution was in Might 2011. It took a decade of wrangling within the Legislature — first including the firing squad as a technique and later passing a protect legislation — to get capital punishment restarted.
South Carolina has put 43 inmates to dying for the reason that dying penalty was restarted within the U.S. in 1976. Within the early 2000s, it was finishing up a mean of three executions a yr. Solely 9 states have put extra inmates to dying.
However for the reason that unintentional execution pause, South Carolina’s dying row inhabitants has dwindled. The state had 63 condemned inmates in early 2011. It had 32 when Friday began. About 20 inmates have been taken off dying row and acquired completely different jail sentences after profitable appeals. Others have died of pure causes.
In his ultimate enchantment, Owens’ legal professionals stated prosecutors by no means introduced scientific proof that Owens pulled the set off when Graves was killed and the chief proof in opposition to him was a co-defendant who pleaded responsible and testified that Owens was the killer.
Owens’ attorneys supplied a sworn assertion two days earlier than the execution from Steven Golden saying Owens was not within the retailer, contradicting his trial testimony. Prosecutors stated different buddies of Owens and his former girlfriend testified that he bragged about killing the clerk.
Owens’ legal professionals additionally stated he was simply 19 when the killing occurred and that he had suffered mind injury from bodily and sexual violence whereas in a juvenile jail.