South Carolina to execute Freddie Owens despite questions over guilt. What to know

A death row inmate convicted of killing a single mother of three children in South Carolina is set to become the first execution in the state in more than a decade and the 14th in the nation this year, despite a key witness who testified against him now proclaiming his innocence.

Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. on Friday. He was convicted of killing of 41-year-old Irene Grainger Graves, who was shot in the head at the convenience store where she worked during a Halloween night robbery in 1997.

On Wednesday, Owens' co-defendant in the robbery, Steven Golden, signed a sworn statement saying that Owens didn't shoot Graves and was not even there that night, according to reporting by the Greenville News, part of the USA TODAY Network.

“Freddie Owens is not the person who shot Irene Graves at the Speedway on November 1, 1997,” Golden told the South Carolina Supreme Court. “Freddie was not present when I robbed the Speedway that day."

On Thursday, the South Carolina Supreme Court declined to stop the execution, saying the sworn statement didn't trump Owens' previous alleged confessions. Now Owens' last hope is Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who has the power to grant clemency in the case.

Here's what you need to know about the execution.

What was Freddie Eugene Owens convicted of?

Owens and Golden were convicted in Graves' death, which came during a robbery of the convenience store where she worked in Greenville, South Carolina. Graves was shot in the head after she told the men that she could not open the store safe.

Owens has always maintained he was at home in bed at the time of the robbery, and now Golden's statement backs that up.

Golden said he went along with detectives who told him to say that Owens was with him during the robbery, saying he was afraid of getting the death penalty. In a statement to police, Golden said he "substituted Freddie for the person who was really with me in the Speedway that night."

"I did that because I knew that's what the police wanted me to say, and also because I thought the real shooter or his associates might kill me if I named him to the police," he said. "I am still afraid of that. But Freddie was actually not there."

Golden reached a plea agreement with prosecutors to testify against Owens and avoided the death penalty. His murder charge was reduced to voluntary manslaughter and he was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

In response to the state Supreme Court's decision to allow the execution to proceed, one of Owens' attorneys, Gerald Bo King, said he was "disappointed" in the ruling "despite compelling evidence of his innocence that emerged."

"South Carolina is on the verge of executing a man for a crime he did not commit," he said.

Who is Freddie Eugene Owens?

Owens' childhood was filled with neglect, abuse, trauma and psychological difficulties. His older sister described their father as extremely violent and abusive, saying he hit the children "all the time" with bats, beer cans, extension cords and belts "until we bled," according to court records obtained by USA TODAY.

Owens’ mother, Dora Diane Mason, recounted how Owens' father abused him as a child.

"I remember a time when Freddie was about 1 year old - he was very small - that his father got mad at him and whooped him and shook him so hard," Mason said. "After he stopped and I was able to get Freddie, I couldn't get Freddie to stop crying no matter how I tried."

Today, Owens has chosen to go by a different name − Khalil-Divine Black Sun-Allah − after converting to Islam in prison. Court records still refer to him as Owens.

When he was first incarcerated, he wrote detailed letters to a woman he loved, at times expressing anger and jealousy and others showing his deeply vulnerable side, saying: "I'm as fragile as a child."

A death row inmate's letters:Read vulnerable, angry thoughts written by Freddie Owens

Who was Irene Grainger Graves?

Arte Graves, who was 18 when his mother was killed, said he remembers how hard-working and fun she was.

Irene Graves, who was a single mom, worked three jobs at the Speedway convenience store, Kmart and a supermarket called Bi-Lo to support her kids.

“She always reminded us to look after each other and always reminded us that we were family, to look after each other,” Arte Graves, now 45, told USA TODAY in an interview. “We were always having fun. I liked wrestling when I was growing up so she would take me to the wrestling shows when they were at the old auditorium.”

He said his mother was also strong, determined, and loving.

Arte Graves said he had just moved to Delaware for college when his mom was murdered, and that he immediately moved back to South Carolina to be with his younger siblings, who were just 10 and 11 years old at the time. He still lives in the state and owns a small transportation company.

About his mom, he said: "I miss her every day."

When and where will Freddie Eugene Owens be executed?

Owens is set to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Broad River Correctional Institute in Columbia, South Carolina.

What will Freddie Eugene Owens’ last meal be?

Details on his last meal will be released on Friday, according to Chrysti Shain, a spokesperson with the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

Owens will get the chance to say his last words before he is killed. Check back with USA TODAY to find out what they are.

Who will witness Freddie Eugene Owens’ execution?

Arte Graves told USA TODAY that he will be among the witnesses to the executions but said whether other family members will is still up in the air.

Members of the media will be at the execution, including: 

• The Greenville News, part of the USA TODAY Network
• The Associated Press
• Fox Carolina
• The Charleston Post and Courier

When is the nation’s next execution?

Owens' execution is the first of five scheduled in the U.S. in only a six-day period. On Tuesday, Texas is set to execute Travis James Mullis in the 2008 murder of his baby boy, and Missouri is set to execute Marcellus Williams in the death of 1998 fatal stabbing of a former reporter despite prosecutors and victim family members arguing that he should be spared because he could very well be innocent.

After Tuesday's double execution, Thursday is expected to bring two more back-to-back executions. Alabama is set to use nitrogen gas to execute Alan Eugene Miller in the shooting deaths of three co-workers in 1999 despite evidence of his mental illness and a witness to the state's previous nitrogen gas execution in January who described the method as "horrific."

Also Thursday, Oklahoma is set to execute Emmanuel Littlejohn in the death of a convenience store clerk in 1992 despite his arguments that he wasn't the shooter.

If all five executions proceed, the U.S. will have executed 18 death row inmates this year. Another six are scheduled, and more could be added to the calendar.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.