Diocese holds vigil, protesters gather as Freddie Owens heads to SC death chamber

Diocese holds vigil, protesters gather as Freddie Owens heads to SC death chamber

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina held a prayer vigil Wednesday night to protest the scheduled execution of Freddie Owens, even as protesters gathered outside the governor’s mansion to call for a reprieve.

Owens, 43, is set to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Thursday for the 1998 killing of his girlfriend’s mother, Eunice Pough. Owens was convicted of murder, armed robbery and kidnapping.

The vigil was held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in downtown Columbia. Bishop Mark Lawrence said in a statement that the diocese “stands in solidarity with all who are working to end the death penalty.”

“We believe that every human life is sacred, and that the death penalty is a violation of that sacredness,” Lawrence said.

Outside the governor’s mansion, about 50 protesters gathered to call on Gov. Henry McMaster to grant Owens a reprieve. The protesters held signs that said “Stop the Execution” and “Freddie Owens Deserves Mercy.”

McMaster has said he will not intervene in the case. In a statement Wednesday, McMaster said that he “has carefully reviewed the facts of this case and the legal process that has been followed.”

“I have concluded that there is no legal basis for me to intervene in this case,” McMaster said.

Owens’ attorneys have filed a motion for a stay of execution with the U.S. Supreme Court. The court has not yet ruled on the motion.

If Owens is executed, he will be the fifth person put to death in South Carolina this year. The state has executed more people than any other state in the country since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.