MORNING NEWSBREAK | Convicted murderer Freddie Owens, 46, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Sept. 20. It will be the first execution carried out by the state in 13 years, and the first under a new legal arrangement that requires condemned prisoners to choose their method of execution from lethal injection, electrocution or firing squad.
Owens, who also goes by Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah, declined to choose his own method, saying it was akin to suicide and therefore against his Islamic faith. Owens is in prison for the 1997 murder of Irene Grainger Graves, a 41-year-old convenience store clerk and mother of three shot and killed by a 19-year-old Owens during an attempted robbery in Greenville County. Owens also killed fellow inmate Christopher Bryan Lee, 28, during a dispute in the jail.
U.S. District Judge Jacquelyn Austin said on Wednesday she would not stop Owens’ execution after his lawyers requested more information on the lethal drugs to be used on Friday. The attorneys also asked for the credentials of the people inserting the IV who will deliver the fatal drug. Austin said the argument was not convincing enough for her to stop the execution.
Owens requested clemency from S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, who has said he will stick to the historic practice of announcing his decision whether to spare the man’s life over the phone minutes before the lethal injection is set to begin. No governor has granted clemency to any of the state’s 43 executions since 1976, when the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.
Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, there have been 1,414 executions carried out by lethal injection across the country, making it the most common method of execution in the U.S., according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Only 163 executions have been carried out by the electric chair, 12 in the gas chamber and three by firing squad.
In other news headlines today:
At least 13 cars had tires slashed on Eastside early Tuesday morning. From Reid Street to South Street, car owners in Charleston’s Eastside neighborhood dealt with flat tires this week after they were apparently slashed.
CARTA begins implementing downtown Charleston transit plan. CARTA is set to begin improving the system in downtown Charleston ahead of the Lowcountry Rapid Transit project.
Lowcountry’s robust beekeeping community serves environment. The Charleston Area Beekeepers Association is one of the largest beekeeping groups in the state.
CCSD addresses various issues seen in schools. Charleston County School District’s Department of School Support held a student, parent and community engagement briefing Wednesday night.
21 juveniles charged with making school threats in S.C. The charges are part of an investigation into more than 60 threats against schools since a mass shooting that killed four.
S.C. prepares for November with new ballot scanners, court inventive for poll workers. All of South Carolina’s ballot-counting machines are being replaced with new, faster versions ahead of the November elections.
Boeing strike has already cost the company $572M. The strike at Boeing by 33,000 members of the International Association of Machinists union, which reaches its seventh day today, has already cost the company and workers $572 million, according to an estimate from Anderson Economic Group.
Liquor liability insurance still causing S.C. bars, restaurants to close. Restaurants and bars are closing across the state at an alarming rate, with about 10 shutting down in Charleston alone in the last month. Owners and experts have cited rent, labor, food costs and competition as reasons for the trend.
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