South Carolina is set to conduct its first execution in over 13 years on September 20, with Freddie Eugene Owens facing death for the 1997 murder of store clerk Irene Graves during a robbery spree.

The execution marks a significant moment in South Carolina's death penalty history, as it signals the state's resumption of capital punishment after prolonged delays caused by legal and procedural hurdles. Owens will choose from execution methods including lethal injection, the electric chair, or a firing squad—the latter being a controversial option that hasn’t been exercised in the U.S. since 2010. With this execution, South Carolina joins a nationwide conversation on the evolving practices of capital punishment amid growing concerns over drug sourcing and transparency.

Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, was sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of Irene Graves during a series of robberies in Greenville. After being convicted, Owens has gone through three separate death sentences as his appeals proceeded through the court system. His impending execution on September 20, 2024, reinstates a procedure that has been dormant in the state since May 2011, when the last execution was carried out.

The South Carolina Department of Corrections has provided Owens with 14 days to decide on his preferred execution method; if he does not choose, the state will default to the electric chair. The introduction of the firing squad as a choice marks a notable change in execution methods, as it has not been utilized in the U.S. since an execution by firing squad in Utah in 2010.

The decision to allow these methods comes after the South Carolina Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to resume executions in July 2024. This ruling followed the passage of a shield law by the state legislature that enables officials to keep the suppliers of lethal injection drugs private, addressing significant challenges the state faced in securing necessary substances for lethal injections due to widespread pharmaceutical resistance to provide such drugs for executions.

Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the U.S. in 1976, South Carolina has conducted a total of 43 executions. The state currently has 32 inmates facing capital punishment, with at least three others who have exhausted their regular appeals, indicating that more executions may occur in the near future as the state reinstates its lethal procedures.

Owens, who changed his name to Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah in 2015, has drawn attention not just for his crime, but also for the state's broader challenges with executing death row inmates. Legal experts and advocates express concerns regarding the transparency and quality of the execution drugs, particularly in light of the shield law. A lawyer articulated these worries, highlighting the significant lack of clarity surrounding the sourcing of such drugs, which may impact the ethics and legality of future executions.

In South Carolina, the power to influence the fate of inmates on death row is notably concentrated, as no governor in the modern era of the death penalty has granted clemency. This has led to anticipation surrounding Owens' case and a growing discourse around the ethics and practices of capital punishment in the state. The impending execution of Owens marks not only a personal moment of final justice for the crime committed against Irene Graves but also represents an intricate scenario in South Carolina's approach to the death penalty and societal attitudes towards it.