After a 13-year pause, South Carolina resumed executions with the death of inmate Freddie Owens, who was convicted of killing a store clerk during a robbery. Owens made no final statement and was executed with a sedative drug. His last meal included two cheeseburgers, french fries, and six chicken wings.
Owens’ last appeals were denied, including by the U.S. Supreme Court and Governor Henry McMaster, earning no clemency. South Carolina is set to execute other condemned individuals every five weeks, using various methods including lethal injection, firing squad, or the electric chair.
Owens, formerly known as Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah, also killed a person while incarcerated for his initial crime, leading to multiple death sentences. Despite his attorneys’ claims of innocence and a troubled childhood marked by abuse, Owens’ execution proceeded.
Protesters demonstrated outside the prison, expressing outrage over the resumption of the death penalty in South Carolina. The state’s death row population has decreased since the pause, with many former inmates receiving different sentences after appeals or passing away naturally.
The state’s execution methods were revised due to a lack of lethal injection drugs, leading to the approval of the firing squad as an alternative. Owens’ case has raised concerns about false evidence and legal errors in the criminal justice system, prompting calls for reform and an end to the death penalty.
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