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South Carolina carries out first execution in 13 years

September 21, 2024

South Carolina has executed a man who was convicted of murder in 1999, marking the US' 14th execution this year. The state stopped applying the death penalty for years after its stock of lethal injections expired.

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South Carolina Department of Communciations officials at press conference on Sept 20, 2024.
The US state of South Carolina executed a man who had been convicted of murder in a 1999 trialImage: Chris Carlson/AP Photo/picture alliance

A man convicted of a 1997 murder was killed by lethal injection on Friday in the southeastern US state of South Carolina.

This is the state's first execution of a death row inmate in 13 years.

What de we know about the execution?

US media reported that Freddie Owens, 46, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. local time (2255 GMT) after he was given a lethal injection.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster rejected Owens' appeal for clemency and the Supreme Court denied a stay of the execution.

Owens was convicted in 1999 of the murder of convenience store clerk Irene Graves during a robbery in Greenville, South Carolina in 1997.

He and another man entered the store and stole $37 from a cash register and led Graves to the back of the store, where she was shot in the head after she was unable to open a safe.

Codefendant Steven Golden had testified that Owens was the one who shot Graves and received a lesser sentence. He has since recanted his testimony.

While on trial in 1999, Owens killed a person incarcerated at a county jail. His confession to that killing was read to two different juries and a judge who all sentenced him to death.

Owens made no final statement on Friday.

First execution since 2011

South Carolina's last execution was in May 2011.

It took a decade of legislative wrangling to restart capital punishment after its supply of lethal injection drugs expired and no company was publicly willing to sell the state more.

There have been 14 executions in the United States this year.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the US' 50 states. Six other states have implemented a moratorium on executions.

In May, human rights group Amnesty International reported that the amount of people executed in the US had increased for the second consecutive year amid a global rise in executions.

sdi/rmt (AFP, AP)