South Carolina sets date for first execution in more than 13 years

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina has set a Sept. 20 date for what would be the state’s first execution in more than 13 years. Freddie Eugene Owens will likely have the choice to die by lethal injection, electrocution or by a newly added firing squad. South Carolina hasn’t put anyone to death since its supply of lethal injection drugs expired after a 2011 execution. A shield law and a change in the drugs used allowed the state to get a new supply. Owens killed a store clerk in Greenville in 1997,