Quincy Allen, who spent nearly two decades on South Carolina’s death row for two murders, has been granted a life sentence without parole following a federal court’s decision to overturn his original death sentence two years ago. This decision was confirmed by a Lexington County judge on Monday.
In 2002, Allen was convicted of killing four people: a woman he picked up in Columbia, a man at the restaurant where Allen worked, and two men at a convenience store in Surry County, North Carolina. He received a death sentence for the South Carolina murders and pleaded guilty to the North Carolina killings, receiving a life sentence there.
Photo: Quincy Allen, The State
The federal appeals court overturned Allen’s death sentence in 2022, citing that the judge in his original trial did not adequately consider Allen’s psychiatric issues, which stemmed from severe childhood abuse. His mother frequently expelled him from their home starting in fourth grade, and his stepfather once pointed an unloaded gun at his head and pulled the trigger.
Rather than seeking the death penalty again, prosecutors agreed to a life sentence for Allen, now 44, who in turn agreed not to appeal the sentence. This agreement reduces the number of inmates on South Carolina’s death row to 32, down from 63 in early 2011. Many inmates have either died of natural causes or had their sentences reduced following successful appeals.
South Carolina has not executed anyone in 13 years due to a lack of lethal injection drugs and subsequent legal and logistical challenges. The state has since changed its execution method to a single drug protocol and introduced a law allowing executions by firing squad, as well as the use of the electric chair. South Carolina can execute death row inmates by firing squad, lethal injection or the electric chair, the state’s high court ruled this past Wednesday, opening the door to restart executions after more than a decade. All five justices agreed with at least part of the ruling.
Victims in Columbia decided to forgo further legal battles after his death sentence was overturned. Scott Farewell, whose brother Jedediah Harr was killed by Allen, initially wanted Allen to receive the death penalty but later experienced a change of heart after hearing an interview with a prison warden discussing death row inmates’ emotions.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott and prosecutor Byron Gipson both expressed that Allen deserved the death penalty but acknowledged the need to respect the victims’ families’ wishes. Allen apologized for his actions during his resentencing, attributing his crimes to his unresolved mental health issues and abusive upbringing. His attorneys had previously highlighted Allen’s extensive history of mental illness and abuse in their plea for leniency.
Allen’s childhood was marked by severe neglect and abuse, with multiple stays in psychiatric hospitals leading up to the murders. Despite these reports, Judge G. Thomas Cooper had initially sentenced him to death, doubting the extent of Allen’s mental health issues.