What is next for S.C. death row after Freddie Owens’ execution?

RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - After South Carolina executed its first inmate in more than a decade, many are wondering what is next for the other men on death row.

Freddie Owens died by lethal injection Friday, marking the state’s first execution in 13 years. Owens was sentenced to death for the deadly shooting of Greenville convenience store clerk Irene Graves in 1997.

South Carolina hadn’t conducted an execution since 2011 due to a lack of lethal injection drugs and conflict in courts about the state’s other methods, electrocution and firing squad.

A new shield law protecting the identities of companies that provide lethal injection drugs allowed the state to move forward with Owens’ execution and another inmate from the Upstate is expected to be next.

On Aug. 30, the South Carolina Supreme Court issued an order saying at least 35 days must between inmate executions.

They also set the order of executions for the next death row inmates who are out of appeals: Richard Moore, Marion Bowman, Brad Sigmon, Mikal Mahdi and Steven Bixby.

South Carolina death row inmate Richard Moore was convicted of killing a Spartanburg... — South Carolina death row inmate Richard Moore was convicted of killing a Spartanburg convenience store clerk in 1999.(SC Dept. of Corrections)

According to court records, Moore could be executed as soon as Oct. 25.

Moore was convicted of the 1999 slaying of Spartanburg County convenience store clerk James Mahomes, who was shot multiple times during a robbery at Nikki’s Speedy Mart on Highway 221.

In 2022, Moore elected to be executed by firing squad after he was told lethal injection was not an option. However, his attorneys challenged the constitutionality of the option since the firing squad was not a method of execution when Moore was sentenced in 2001.