Stop the Execution of Freddie Owens in South Carolina

Governor Henry McMaster

Freddie Owens is scheduled for execution in South Carolina on September 20, 2024 for the 1997 murder of Irene Graves.

See also the petition presented by South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and this very thorough Wikipedia write-up. Key points of concern:

Freddie “Khalil” Owens is scheduled to be executed on September 20th, 2024, by the state of South Carolina for the murder of Irene Graves. Khalil, who was 19 at the time of the crime, was profoundly traumatized by childhood poverty and suffered horrific abuse in both his home and South Carolina’s juvenile prisons, which left him with organic brain injuries. Please take consistent action in the coming weeks for #ClemencyForFreddieKhalilOwens.

Owens's execution will be South Carolina's first since 2011. The execution is planned to be carried out by lethal injection. Under the new law, inmates also have the choice to die by firing squad or electrocution. As a devout Muslim, Khalil refused to participate in his own killing and designated his attorney to make the decision for him. Lethal injection was chosen.

In scheduling an execution after more than a decade without one, South Carolina makes itself an outlier in its use of the death penalty. The majority of other states are on a downward trend of executions, and increasingly, states are abolishing the practice altogether, including the southern state of Virginia, which repealed its death penalty law earlier this year.

Please sign the petition asking Governor Henry McMaster to do everything within his power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.

Petitions will be delivered on your behalf in the days prior to the scheduled execution.

Sponsored by

To: Governor Henry McMaster
From: [Your Name]

We are writing to ask that you to stop the September 20, 2024 execution of Freddie Owens for the 1997 murder of Irene Graves​.

We are concerned that while the vast majority of states with capital punishment continue on a downward trend of executions, and states like Virginia have abolished the practice altogether, South Carolina is resuming executions after a 13 year hiatus. Freddie did not elect a method of execution, as it would go against his spiritual beliefs, and instead had his attorneys make the decision. Lethal injection was elected.

We, the undersigned, ask that you do everything within your power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.

Thank you for time and attention to this urgent and serious matter.