
South Carolina Set to Execute Death Row Inmate Marion Bowman Jr. Amid Controversy Over Trial and Lethal Injection Drug
By James Seidel | CC News Network
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Marion Bowman Jr., a convicted murderer on South Carolina’s death row, is scheduled for execution by lethal injection on Friday, January 31, 2025, at 6 p.m., at Broad River Correctional Institution for the 2001 killing of 21-year-old Kandee Martin. As the clock runs out, Bowman’s attorneys continue to raise concerns about racial bias in his trial, the reliability of the execution drug, and new claims that the wrong man was convicted.
Convicted of Murder, Bowman Maintains His Innocence
Bowman, now 44, does not deny his past involvement in the drug trade, but he has long insisted that he did not kill Martin, a young mother and former customer. Prosecutors, however, argued that Bowman murdered her over a drug debt, presenting witnesses who claimed they had heard him threaten her life.
Martin was found dead on February 17, 2001, her body stuffed into the trunk of her burning car on a rural road. She had been shot twice—once in the chest and once in the head, according to court records.
At trial, prosecutors’ key witness was Bowman’s cousin, who had been with Martin the night of the murder. In exchange for a plea deal and a reduced sentence, the cousin testified that Bowman was responsible. Bowman argues that this same cousin later confessed to a cellmate that he—not Bowman—had killed Martin.
“I have done things in my life I regret,” Bowman wrote in a recent online statement. “I regret the role I played in dealing to Kandee and know that her addiction probably led to her death. But I did not do this.”
Martin’s Family Rejects Bowman’s Plea
Martin’s family has never wavered in their belief that Bowman is guilty.
“There is absolutely no part of us that believes any of the stories he’s saying,” Lisa Martin, Kandee’s sister-in-law, told CC News Network. “He’s had 24 years to tell the truth. But the truth is, he did this.”
Martin’s relatives say that seeing Bowman’s appeals in the media is painful, as they prepare to finally see justice carried out.
“What was left of Kandee is in a coffin in the ground,” Lisa Martin said. “How dare he feel sorry for himself?”
Bowman’s Background: A Troubled Life Leading to Death Row
Before death row, Bowman grew up in a rural Orangeburg County home, halfway between Charleston and Columbia. Raised by a single mother in poor health, he dropped out of high school and turned to selling crack cocaine to support his mother, sister, and later, his own family.
After his conviction and put on death row, his wife gave birth to their daughter. Now, Bowman is a grandfather and has developed a strong religious faith, his attorney, Lindsey Vann, said.
He has spent his time in prison writing, including the poem “While I Breathe, I Hope.”
“Doors continue to close, slamming with a resounding bang…
With my hope gone, do I cease to breathe?
I’m still breathing, so this I know.
While I breathe, I hope.”
What Goes Through a Death Row Inmate’s Mind as the Date Approaches?
As a death row inmate’s execution date looms closer, their mind becomes a battlefield of emotions—fear, regret, defiance, and acceptance all colliding in the final hours. Time, once endless behind bars, suddenly feels suffocatingly finite, each minute ticking toward an irreversible fate. Some wrestle with the weight of their past, replaying the choices that led them to death row, while others cling to the belief that justice has failed them. There are sleepless nights haunted by memories, unanswered prayers for clemency, and the cold realization that appeals have run dry. The sterile walls of their cell become a silent witness to last letters written, final goodbyes spoken, and the surreal process of choosing their last meal. Some find solace in faith, while others grapple with bitterness or numb acceptance. The walk to the death chamber is a slow march into the unknown—every footstep an echo of finality, every breath a fleeting reminder that, soon, there will be no more.
Legal Battle Over Execution Drug and Racial Bias Claims
As Bowman faces his final hours, his attorneys are challenging South Carolina’s use of lethal injection, particularly the drug pentobarbital.
In court filings, attorney Lindsey Vann argued that the state has not disclosed critical details about the drug’s expiration date, storage conditions, and purity. These concerns escalated after Richard Moore’s execution in November, when a second dose was administered 11 minutes into the lethal injection process.
South Carolina officials maintain that Bowman had the option to choose firing squad or the electric chair—both of which he declined. A judge rejected his legal challenge earlier this week, clearing the way for the execution.
Bowman has also argued that racial bias tainted his trial. He claims that his own public defender pressured him to plead guilty, saying, “Son, you need to plead guilty. You are charged with killing a white girl, and you and your family are Black. The prosecutor is gonna love this.”
The prosecutor in the case, Bowman said, offered him 13 plea deals, but he refused them all.
“I wasn’t going to be sentenced for something that I didn’t do,” Bowman said. “The only thing I have ever wanted is a fair trial with a lawyer who would listen to me.”

Final Hours and Pending Appeals
Bowman’s execution will mark South Carolina’s first in 2025 and the first lethal injection carried out in the state since Richard Moore in late 2024.
If Republican Gov. Henry McMaster does not intervene, Bowman will be executed Friday at 6:00 p.m. at the Broad River Correctional Institution. But no governor in the previous 45 executions in South Carolina since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 has taken mercy and reduced a death sentence to life in prison without parole in the modern era of the death penalty.
The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected Bowman’s plea today what is likely the final appeal of a South Carolina inmate the day before his scheduled execution for a 2001 killing of a friend found dead in her burning car. Marion Bowman Jr.’s request to stop his execution until a court could hear more arguments over whether his trial attorney had too much sympathy for the white victim to put on a vigorous defense was turned down without comment.
While Bowman’s family, including his daughter and grandchildren, say they still believe in his innocence, Martin’s family says they are simply counting down the minutes to his execution.
For now, the debate over South Carolina’s death penalty and race in the criminal justice system rages on.
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