The South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered the execution of convicted killer Freddie Owens, aka Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah, to proceed despite fresh doubts that he is the real murderer.
The 46-year-old Owens (who also goes by Khalil Allah due to a recent conversion to Islam) was condemned to death for the 1997 murder of convenience store worker 41-year-old Irene Graves.
He is due to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Owens and his accomplice Steven Golden were both convicted over the death of Graves, a mother of three, who was shot in the head during the course of a robbery in Greenville, SC. Owens was thought to be the triggerman.
Owens’ conviction relied heavily on the testimony of Golden, who agreed to plead guilty and avoid the death penalty in exchange for testifying against Owens. However, Golden now says that Owens wasn’t the one who shot Graves and that the condemned man wasn’t even there.
Lawyers for Owens filed emergency motions this week, hoping to delay the execution. Golden signed an affidavit on Wednesday claiming Owens was not the killer.
Steven Golden said he was pressured into saying Freddie Owens killed Irene Graves
In a written statement, Golden claimed he was high on cocaine when the police first interviewed him about Graves’s shooting. He said the police put pressure on him to admit that Owens was with him during the robbery and murder.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelGolden explained, “I thought the real shooter or his associates might kill me if I named him to police. I am still afraid of that. But Freddie was not there.”
He added, “I don’t want Freddie to be executed for something he didn’t do. This has weighed heavily on my mind and I want to have a clear conscience.”
South Carolina Supreme Court says there is enough evidence to execute Freddie Owens for Irene Graves murder
However, on Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that there was plenty of other evidence that places Owens as the killer and the execution should proceed as planned.
Owens allegedly confessed to his girlfriend and his mother. However, his lawyers say the girlfriend was angry due to being jilted, and his mother has since disavowed a statement she signed suggesting her son had confessed.
The murder was caught on surveillance camera, but the two perpetrators were wearing ski masks. The state’s lawyers claim one of the masks was linked to Owens.
Owens’s last hope for clemency lies with State Governor Henry McMaster, who could intervene to stop the execution right up to the last second. On Thursday, a group called South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty presented the governor with a petition with 10,000 signatures asking him to reduce the sentence.
The condemned man was offered a choice between lethal injection or firing squad but refused to choose as he said that amounted to suicide, which was against his Muslim faith. His lawyer chose lethal injection on his behalf.