Condemned inmate ends weeks of suspense over whether he will choose lethal injection, electric chair or FIRING SQUAD

A death row inmate forced to pick between three options for his execution is set to be put to death this month via lethal injection in South Carolina. 

Freddie Owens, 46, a convicted killer who gunned down a store clerk during a botched robbery in 1997, was given the choice of lethal injection, electric chair or firing squad when he is put to death. 

Although he was forced to decide his execution method, Owens left his fate up to his lawyer as he argued that his Muslim faith means he cannot take an active role in his own death. 

But even as his attorney Emily Paavola opted for lethal injection, she cited ongoing issues with the method that has seen a number of recent executions last several hours and even fail to kill inmates. 

Owens was given the choice between lethal injection, firing squad or electric chair. Pictured is the SC execution chamber, showing the electric chair (right) and firing squad chair (left)

Experts have sounded the alarm in recent years over the issues surrounding lethal injections, with a shortage of the drugs used in the method leading some states to allegedly extend their supplies beyond their expiration date. 

Critics argue this has caused several executions to become drawn out and painful, including inmate Joe Nathan James, 50, who suffered through the longest execution in US history in 2022 at over three hours. 

In court filings deciding Owens’ fate this month, Paavola cited these concerns as she said she is still unsure prison officials will be able to effectively and humanely execute the killer. 

‘I have known Mr. Owens for 15 years. Under the circumstances, and in light of the information currently available to me, I made the best decision I felt I could make on his behalf,’ she wrote. 

‘I sincerely hope that the South Carolina Department of Corrections’ assurances will hold true.’ 

Owens put the decision down to his attorney because of his Muslim faith, which teaches that suicide is a sin, and he saw choosing his execution as taking an active role in his own death. 

If Paavola had not made a decision, the state would have sent Owens to the electric chair, which the killer said he wanted to avoid. 

Owens, pictured during his 1999 trial, was sentenced to death over the murder of store clerk Irene Graves during a botched robbery in 1997

Owens denied being the one who killed Graves, and the store’s surveillance video couldn’t clearly show who shot Graves in the head – and scientific evidence was never presented at his trial

Owens’ attorney Emily Paavola opted for lethal injection on his behalf, but cited ongoing issues with the method that has seen a number of recent executions fail 

His execution is now set for September 20, and it will become the first execution to take place in South Carolina in 13 years. 

The delay had been down to the issues plaguing executions in states across the country, however last year South Carolina lawmakers voted to keep their supplier of pentobarbital a secret, effectively re-opening the death chamber, reports the Associated Press. 

This came as the state had previously used a cocktail of three drugs, but moved to a single dose of pentobarbital – similar to the federal government’s method – to make obtaining the drug easier.  

The state’s Supreme Court also ruled in July 2024 that the electric chair and firing squad method were also legal. 

This led Owens to have his execution date finally set as he had exhausted all his appeal options. 

However, Owens could still be granted a stay of execution as the Supreme Court will hear an argument from his attorneys that his co-defendant lied during his 1999 trial about striking a deal to testify against Owens. 

At the trial, his co-defendant Steven Andra Golden testified that Owens was the one who pulled the trigger to kill store clerk Irene Graves when she struggled to open the safe during a robbery. 

Owens denied being the one who killed Graves, and the store’s surveillance video couldn’t clearly show who shot Graves in the head – and scientific evidence was never presented at his trial. 

However, while Owens has pleaded his innocence over the murder, prosecutors say the testimony against him was bolstered by Owens confessing to the killing to his mother and girlfriend. 

Less than 12 hours after he was convicted of Graves’ murder, Owens also killed fellow prisoner Christopher Bryan Lee, 28, in a jail cell argument, after Lee allegedly revealed his cousin was on the jury that sentenced Owens to death.  

Less than 12 hours after he was convicted of Graves’ murder, Owens also killed fellow prisoner Christopher Bryan Lee, 28, (pictured) in a jail cell argument

Owens, seen in a more recent mugshot from death row, will become the first person executed in South Carolina in 13 years if his September 20 execution goes ahead 

Prosecutors also say that the issues being raised by Owens’ attorneys to stay his execution have all been poured over during his numerous appeals. 

Owens has had his death penalty conviction overturned twice while he sat on death row, only for subsequent re-trials to end up with a recommendation of death again. 

‘Owens has had ample opportunity to litigate claims regarding his conviction and sentence. He is due no more,’ the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office wrote in a court filing. 

With his other options exhausted – including failed arguments over the extended use of pentobarbital – Owens may need to rely on South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster granting him a last-minute clemency. 

However no governor has done that in the state’s 43 executions since the death penalty was restarted in the U.S. in 1976.

Gov. Henry McMaster has said he will follow longtime tradition and not announce his decision until prison officials make a call from the death chamber minutes before the execution.