South Carolina executed a death row inmate on Friday, just days after a key prosecution witness argued that the defendant lied at trial and that the state was executing an innocent man.
Khalil Devine Black Sun Allah, 46, was killed by lethal injection at approximately 7 p.m. His lawyers filed an emergency motion for a stay this week, citing new evidence suggesting he was wrongfully convicted, but the state Supreme Court denied the motion and the governor announced shortly before his execution that he would not grant a pardon.
The execution of Allar, formerly known as Freddie Owens, is South Carolina's first in 13 years and could be the start of a rapid series of executions in the coming months.
A spokesman for Columbia's Broad River Correctional Facility said Alar will be executed in front of three members of the media. The state gave Alar the choice of lethal injection, electrocution or shooting, but Alar opposed approval of the method, saying it was akin to suicide and against his Islamic beliefs. His lawyers opted for lethal injection.
Allah was convicted of armed robbery and murder of convenience store cashier Eileen Graves in November 1997. He was 19 at the time. Graves, 41, was Mother of three childrenwas shot in the head during a robbery, and Allah has always maintained his innocence.
Prosecutors had no forensic evidence linking Allah to the shooting, and although security footage from inside the store showed two masked men with guns, they could not be identified.
The state's case was based on the testimony of Allah's friend and co-defendant, Steven Golden, who had also been charged with robbery and murder. When their joint trial began, Golden pleaded guilty to murder, armed robbery and conspiracy and agreed to testify against Allah. Golden, who was 18 at the time of the robbery, said Allah shot Graves.
But on Wednesday, two days before his scheduled execution, Golden signed a shocking affidavit recanting his testimony, saying Allah “was not the person who shot Eileen Graves” and “was not present at the scene of the robbery.” Golden's affidavit also states that when police questioned him a few days after the robbery, he was high and pressured to write a statement incriminating Allah.
“I [Allah] He wrote about “the person who was really with me” and said he hid the identity of the “real culprit” out of fear that “my comrades might kill me.” He did not reveal the identity of the person.
Golden said he agreed to plead guilty and testify because prosecutors assured him he would not face the death penalty or life in prison if he cooperated, an arrangement that was not disclosed to the jury.
“i don't want [Allah] “It is painful to be sentenced to death for something I did not do,” he wrote in the new affidavit. “This weighs heavily on my mind and I wish to have no remorse.”
The state attorney general's office filed a response Thursday saying Golden's new testimony was not credible and did not warrant a new trial. Lawyers for the state also argued that other evidence points to Alar's guilt and that he confessed to his mother and his girlfriend for the shooting. But Alar's lawyers rejected the “dumped ex-girlfriend” claim and said his mother “disowned” a statement that police had signed that implied her son's confession.
“This Court has the authority and responsibility to ensure that South Carolina does not murder its citizens for crimes they did not commit,” Aller's lawyers wrote Thursday.
The attorney general's office declined to comment.The state Supreme Court sided with the attorney general, ruling that the new evidence did not constitute “exceptional circumstances” justifying a stay of execution and suggesting other evidence supported Allah's guilt.
Allah's mother, Dora Mason, condemned the “grave injustice” perpetrated against my son and the “government's unwillingness to consider new evidence.” statement Ahead of Friday's execution, a statement was released through local activists: “We ask South Carolinians to reflect on the value of human life, the fallibility of our justice system and the irreversibility of the death penalty. We ask that you, especially when in doubt, question the morality of taking a human life in the name of justice.”
She offered condolences and prayers to the victim's family, pleaded with the governor to intervene and shared a message for her son: “I want you to know that I love you more than words can express. You will always be my guiding light and your strength and fortitude inspire me every day. I will be by your side until the very end.”
Allah's lawyers have argued in recent weeks that the death sentence doesn't fit his conviction. He was convicted of murder without the jury explicitly finding that he pulled the trigger. Prosecutors told jurors they could convict him of murder simply by believing he was present at the robbery. rare Being sentenced to death for a murder that you did not commit.
His lawyers also noted that he was subjected to severe violence as a child and was diagnosed with brain damage. teeth At the time of the crime, he was one of the youngest people sentenced to death in South Carolina in decades.
Restoration of the death penalty
South Carolina hasn't carried out an execution since 2011. Amid growing backlash, pharmaceutical companies stopped selling lethal injection drugs to the state, but last year South Carolina passed a shield law to conceal the identities of its suppliers. I bought pentobarbitalsedatives.
The state Supreme Court last month Five executions The government said the dates would be set as per Allah's will, with an interval of at least 35 days.
The Rev. Hillary Taylor, executive director of the South Carolina group Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said Thursday that the flaws in Allah's case are a reminder that “the death penalty is not given to the 'worst of the worst,' but to those least able to defend themselves in a court of law. This is deeply unjust.”
“Mr Khalil should not die because of the wrongdoing of others. That's not a case of blame,” she added.
Graves' daughter, Ensley Graves Lee, said in an interview Thursday that her family has been hit hard by their tragedy being back in the news in recent weeks and was shocked to learn of the new developments in the case.
“I understand that it's probably very difficult for the other side and I'm sure they would do anything to save their loved one,” said Graves-Lee, who was 10 when her mother was murdered. “I have to remind myself that I had no choice in this. I was 10 when she died and 12 when the sentence was handed down…the death penalty was absolutely not an option.” She added: “I feel like I'm preparing for my funeral…I don't know if there will be closure after the funeral, but I'm just trying to get through this part that was already decided for me.”
Graves-Lee, a speech-language pathologist, said she wants to remember that her mother worked three retail jobs and hard to provide for her three children before her death. “She dedicated her life to her children,” she said. Graves-Lee said her mother also worked second jobs so she and her brother could continue dancing and gymnastics. “I think she had her own dreams, but she always put us first. She allowed us to do any sport or activity we wanted to do.”
She also recalled her mother taking her children up into the mountains to look at houses in the neighborhood she dreamed of buying. She passed away on November 1, but she had already done her Christmas shopping for her children, and a former coworker from Kmart sent her gifts.
“I'm sad that my mother can't be here. This situation has taken so much from both of us. My children don't have a grandmother. She didn't get to see them grow up. It wasn't fair to my grandmother,” Graves-Lee said. “I hope she's resting in peace after tomorrow.”
