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  • 1440 Daily Digest

Freddie Owens Execution



Freddie Owens is set to be executed by lethal injection today at 6 pm ET. The execution will mark South Carolina's first in 13 years. It comes after Owens' codefendant recently retracted allegations against him. 


In 1999, Owens was convicted of killing 41-year-old convenience store worker Irene Graves during a robbery two years earlier. Surveillance footage shows a man named Stephen Andra Golden and Owens conducting the robbery; it is not clear who fired the lethal shot. This week, however, Golden retracted his allegation that Owens was present with him, instead saying a third, unnamed person is culpable. 


Following his sentencing, Owens was charged with killing cellmate Christopher B. Lee. Owens says he did so in anger after what he maintains is a false conviction in the Graves case.


Today's execution will mark the US' 14th execution this year. See a map of states' execution policies here; see historical public opinion data on capital punishment here.

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