Diocese holds vigil, protesters gather as Freddie Owens heads to SC death chamber
Death penalty opponents began rallying outside the Broad River Correctional Institution Friday afternoon as South Carolina prepares to execute its first death row inmate in more than 13 years.
Freddie Owens, 46, was sentenced to death for the murder of Irene Graves, a gas station clerk, in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 1997. A jury found that Owens, 19 at the time of Graves' murder, had shot and killed the mother of three during a robbery at a Speedway convenience store in Greenville.
Now, following a series of unsuccessful appeals in the last few weeks, he's set to be executed by lethal injection in less than an hour.
As prison officials prepared the death chamber , demonstrators began gathering outside the prison while the Charleston Diocese held a vigil in support of preserving Owen's life.
Sister Pam Smith of the Charleston Diocese — who also sits on the board of South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty — said the Catholic church was praying not only for a stay in Owen's scheduled execution but also for the abolishment of the death penalty altogether.
"We're still praying the governor will change his mind," Smith said. "But if he doesn't, the idea is (through the vigil) we're accompayning Freddie Khalil Owens in prayer. It's a continued prayer (aimed) at ending executions."
Multiple motororists passing by the prison honked at signs held by demonstrators opposing the death penalty. Not a single protester in favor the death penalty could be spotted.
One demonstrator, Morgan Bradham, 29, said she only learned of the state's intent to excute Owens on Friday.
"I've always been against execution, and as I was driving by the thrift store (on Broad River Road) I realized what was happening after I parked and Googled the (planned) execution," Bradham said.
Bradham said she became so upset she began crying and quickly returned home to make a protest sign that read, "Execution is Murder."
"I just had this gut feeling that something was wrong with (this execution)," Bradham said. "It was completely sunny out and it started raining just as I was passing by the prison."
A last minute court order staying the execution, or a clemency directive by Gov. Henry McMaster, were still possible although unlikely.
On Wednesday, a key witness against Owens recanted his testimony , saying he lied more than 30 years ago when he testified that Owens shot and killed Graves.
"Freddie Owens is not the person who shot Irene Graves at the Speedway on November 1, 1997. Freddie was not present when I robbed the Speedway that day," Steven Golden wrote in an affidavit submitted by Owens' attorneys to the South Carolina Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court rejected that appeal on Thursday.
In the meantime, Grant Bell, 20, of Greenville said the state shouldn't have the power to murder someone without definitive evidence.
"I think that the death penalty is outdated and morally wrong," Bell said. "The state shouldn't have a monopoly in deciding when to kill someone."
