OAN Staff Avril Elfi
Saturday, September 21, 2024 10:24 AM
South Carolina executed a death row inmate by lethal injection for the first time in 13 years.
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Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah, formerly known as Freddie Owens, was executed by lethal injection at the Broad River Correctional Facility in Columbia, the first execution in the state in more than a decade and the 14th in the country.Number This year, his execution began at 6:35pm and he died 20 minutes later at 6:55pm.
A South Carolina jury found Owens guilty of armed robbery and murder of convenience store cashier Eileen Graves in 1997. Owens was 19 at the time of the murder, and Graves, 41, was shot in the head.
The execution was witnessed by Graves' son and son-in-law, as well as the family of his former cellmate, Christopher Brian Lee, who was killed by Allah in 1999.
Owens has always denied responsibility for Graves' murder.
Owens' attorneys continue to argue that their client did not kill Graves and that legal errors and false evidence contributed to Owens' conviction.
“Freddie Owens did not kill Mr. Graves. His death tonight is a tragedy,” said his attorney, Gerald Bo King. USA Today “Mr. Owens' childhood was filled with incomprehensible suffering and he spent his adult life in prison for a crime he did not commit. The legal errors, hidden deals and false evidence that made tonight's events possible should shame us all,” the statement said.
Owens' accomplice in the robbery signed a sworn statement Wednesday alleging that Owens did not shoot Graves and was not at the scene of the crime, reversing statements made decades ago.
Co-defendant Steven Golden said in court that he testified against Owens as part of a secret deal with prosecutors. Golden recanted two days before his execution.
Golden, who served 28 years for the murder, admitted in a sworn affidavit to a South Carolina jury during his 1999 trial that he lied when he claimed Owens pulled the trigger. He also said he was high on cocaine and marijuana when police initially arrested and questioned him.
“Freddie Owens is not the person who shot Eileen Graves at the Speedway on November 1, 1997,” Golden wrote in an affidavit filed with the South Carolina Supreme Court. “Freddie was not there when I robbed the Speedway that day.”
Owens' mother also pleaded for reconsideration, saying state authorities had committed “serious improprieties” in light of new sworn testimony from key witnesses in the case.
The statement did not sway the courts or Governor Henry McMaster of Royal Carolina, who refused to pardon Owens shortly before his execution.
“It was a big shock to me,” said Arte Graves, Eileen Graves' son. USA Today After witnessing the execution, he said he was relieved that his sentence was finally over and that it was too late to submit his last-minute affidavit.
“If that's true, I think he should have said something sooner. It's something that a person has to deal with on their conscience,” Arte Graves said.
Wife Allah reported that his final meal included two cheeseburgers, french fries, a well-done rib-eye steak, six chicken wings, two strawberry sodas, and a slice of apple pie.
“There were no signs of discomfort,” said media witness Geoffrey Collins. Associated Press “Freddie Owens appeared to be conscious throughout this incident, perhaps smiling a little or not frowning at all throughout the entire incident,” he wrote.
South Carolina stopped executing inmates on death row in 2011 due to a shortage of drugs needed for lethal injections. For several years after that, the state used the electric chair and firing squad, then passed a “shield law” that concealed all information about the drugs and procedures used for lethal injections.
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