South Carolina has executed 43 inmates since 1976, though the state’s death row population has shrunk since the last execution in 2011.
Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, is scheduled to be executed on Friday evening at a Columbia prison, marking South Carolina's first execution in 13 years.
South Carolina is a southeastern U.S. state.
Owens, convicted of killing a Greenville convenience store clerk in 1997, has exhausted all appeals, Associated Press reports.
Governor Henry McMaster’s decision on clemency is expected just before the execution, as the former prosecutor promised to review the petition but said, "I tend to trust prosecutors and juries."
Owens allowed his lawyer to choose his method of execution, as South Carolina law permits lethal injection, the firing squad, or the electric chair. Owens stated he refused to participate in the choice due to religious beliefs denouncing suicide.
His execution could be the first of several, as five other inmates are also out of appeals. The state had to pass a shield law protecting drug suppliers' identities to restart executions after its previous lethal injection drug supply expired.
Owens, who changed his name to Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah, was also linked to a jail murder.
He confessed to killing fellow inmate Christopher Lee after being convicted of the convenience store clerk’s murder, saying he did it "because I was wrongly convicted of murder."
In a last-minute appeal, Owens' attorneys argued there was no scientific evidence that he killed the clerk, and a new statement from Steven Golden contradicted previous trial testimony.
“South Carolina is on the verge of executing a man for a crime he did not commit. We will continue to advocate for Mr. Owens,” his attorney Gerald “Bo” King said.
Owens’ legal team also cited his brain damage from abuse while in juvenile detention. A vigil is planned outside the prison before the execution.
On the eve of South Carolina's reinstatement of executions after a long hiatus, a vigil was held at Washington Street United Methodist Church in downtown Columbia to honor Freddie Owens, Greenville News reports.
Approximately two dozen people gathered, including locals from Columbia and Charleston, as well as an advocate from Asheville, North Carolina, who joined to show solidarity.
South Carolina has executed 43 inmates since 1976, though the state’s death row population has shrunk since the last execution in 2011.