South Carolina Death Row Inmate Asks Governor for Clemency

A death chamber in Columbia, S.C., including the electric chair (R) and a firing squad chair in a file photo. South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP

COLUMBIA, S.C.—A South Carolina inmate scheduled to be executed Friday is asking Gov. Henry McMaster to spare his life, something no governor in the state has done since the death penalty was restarted nearly 50 years ago.

Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, is set to be the first person to be executed in South Carolina in 13 years. His lawyer chose lethal injection over the firing squad or electric chair after Owens turned the decision over to her.