The South Carolina Supreme Court has cleared the path for Freddie Eugene Owens to become the first person executed in the state since 2011, denying a stay of execution for the 46-year-old inmate. In a ruling delivered late Thursday, the five justices unanimously rejected a series of motions filed by Owens’ defense team, which claimed the death penalty was disproportionate, prosecutors had concealed key evidence, and a juror had witnessed Owens wearing an electric stun belt, violating his right to a fair trial.
Owens, sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of gas station clerk Irene Graves, now faces execution at 6:00 PM on September 20th, 2023 at Broad River Correctional Institution, a date set in stone by South Carolina’s highest court.
The Crime that Sealed Owens’ Fate
It was the early hours of November 1, 1997, when Freddie Owens, then just 19 years old, and three accomplices embarked on a robbery spree that left Irene Graves, a mother of three, dead at the Starvin’ Marvin Speedway gas station in Greenville, SC. Owens, according to the prosecution, was the one who fatally shot Graves when she couldn’t open the store’s safe, taking off with a paltry $37.29.
The brutality of the crime shocked the community, and in 1999, Owens was found guilty of murder. Following years of appeals, Owens was resentenced to death in 2003 by now South Carolina Chief Justice John Kittredge, and again in 2006 by a jury.
Owens’ road to execution has been long and winding. In 2015, he converted to Islam, adopting the name Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah, though his legal battles continued under his birth name. Owens has always maintained his innocence, claiming he was not the man who pulled the trigger and that there is no forensic evidence tying him to the shooting.
A Fight for Life: Defense’s Battle for a Stay
Owens’ attorneys fought tirelessly to halt the execution. Chief among their arguments was the claim that the death penalty was disproportionate, especially given Owens’ youth at the time of the crime and his documented brain damage. They also accused the prosecution of concealing a deal made with Owens’ accomplice, Steven Golden, who testified that Owens was the shooter. Golden later admitted in a sworn affidavit that he had been promised leniency in exchange for his testimony, a detail Owens’ defense team said was hidden from them.
The Supreme Court, however, dismissed these arguments. The justices found that the affidavit was introduced too late and failed to demonstrate that Golden’s testimony was coerced or that there had been any constitutional violation that warranted stopping the execution.
In another blow to the defense, the court ruled that Owens’ death sentence was appropriate. Even if Owens had not been the one to pull the trigger, the court upheld that Owens’ involvement in the robbery spree was enough to warrant the death penalty under South Carolina’s accomplice liability laws.
“This is not the kind of case where you would typically be subject to the death penalty,” argued Josh Kendrick, one of Owens’ attorneys. Yet the court remained unmoved, finding “sufficient evidence to prove Owens deserved a sentence of death.”
The Dark Side of Prison: A Cellmate’s Death
Owens’ violent tendencies were highlighted in court during his sentencing hearings. While awaiting trial in 1999, Owens was implicated in the death of his cellmate, Christopher Bryan Lee, who was serving a 90-day sentence for drunk driving. Owens reportedly confessed to “brutally murdering” Lee during a 24-hour waiting period between his criminal conviction and his sentencing. Though Owens was never formally charged with Lee’s death, the incident painted a grim portrait of a man already condemned for one murder.
A Unique Legal Argument: Accomplice to Murder
Owens’ legal team contended that his case was unprecedented, claiming it could be the first time in South Carolina since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 that a person could be executed without a specific finding that they had personally committed the murder. Instead, the jury had been instructed that Owens could be found guilty of murder simply for being present during the armed robbery that led to Graves’ killing.
The defense’s arguments against South Carolina’s use of the “accomplice liability of felony murder” legal theory were ultimately dismissed by the court, which pointed to Owens’ active role in the events that resulted in Graves’ death. The court’s ruling emphasized the “reckless disregard for human life” shown by Owens in engaging in the criminal activity that night.
The Final Countdown
With the Supreme Court’s ruling, Freddie Owens is now scheduled to die at 6 p.m. on September 20th. Owens, a practicing Muslim, declined to choose his method of execution, leaving his attorney to select lethal injection, citing Owens’ religious beliefs.
Gerald “Bo” King, Chief of the Capital Habeas Unit for the Fourth Circuit in the Office of the Federal Public Defender, who is assisting in Owens’ appeal, expressed deep disappointment in the court’s decision: “Mr. Owens’s death sentence remains excessive and unprecedented, especially in light of his youth and organic brain damage. We will continue to seek review and relief for Mr. Owens.”
But with time running out, Owens’ options are dwindling. His fate now lies in the hands of higher courts or clemency from the governor—a rare and unlikely reprieve.
As the countdown to September 20th continues, the execution of Freddie Eugene Owens could mark the end of a legal battle spanning over two decades. But the larger questions surrounding the fairness of the death penalty in cases like Owens’, where accomplice liability plays a central role, continue to spark debate in South Carolina and beyond.
Stay tuned to Crime and Cask for continuing coverage of Freddie Owens’ final hours and the legal challenges that still loom over this highly controversial case.
1 thought on “The Freddie Owens Case and the Denial of a Stay of Execution in SC”