Freddie Eugene Owens
Freddie Owens, 46, was a son, brother and friend, according to his mother, Dora Mason, and his lawyer said he read widely, studied Arabic, wrote poems and essays, and called his mother from prison every day while she was ill. He was executed by lethal injection at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday, September 20, 2024, and the South Carolina Department of Corrections said he was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. His lawyers and his mother said he was innocent of the killing for which he was executed and pointed to a sworn statement from a co-defendant, but the courts and Governor Henry McMaster declined to halt the execution. His lawyers also said he was 19 at the time of the crime and had suffered brain damage from physical and sexual abuse as a juvenile. Before the drugs took effect, he said only 'bye' to his attorney, who said it back to him.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. His lawyers said he was innocent and cited a co-defendant's recanted affidavit, and his mother publicly questioned his guilt.
Reported by: South Carolina Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); media witnesses.
News reports (11)
- Witness describe lethal injection execution of Freddie Owens
- Freddie Eugene Owens executed by lethal injection in South Carolina
- South Carolina executes first inmate in 13 years Freddie Owens
- SC inmate is executed by lethal injection, 2 days after the witness changed his story
- Freddie Eugene Owens: South Carolina death row inmate dies by state’s first lethal injection in 13 years
- South Carolina inmate utters just one final word before dying by lethal injection in state’s first execution in 13 years
- Inmate dies by lethal injection in South Carolina’s first execution in 13 years
- Death row inmate Freddie Owens put to death in first execution in South Carolina in 13 years
- Death row inmate Freddie Owens' chilling single word before execution over brutal 1997 killing
- Freddie Owens: South Carolina executes first inmate in 13 years
- Final meal of SC inmate put to death in state’s first execution in 13 years revealed