Freddie Owens was executed tonight. Owens murdered Irene Graves on November 1, 1997 at a Speedway convenience store in Greenville, SC. She was a 41-year-old mother of 3 children. Owens was 19. On March 6, 1999, he was sentenced to die. He was pronounced dead at 6:55 pm, September 20, 2024.

I saw an interview with one of Ms. Graves’s children, Ensley Graves-Lee, who was 10 at the time. She was asked if she thought Owens was guilty, and she replied that the State of SC had done its best. She did not seem happy about the impending death of her mother’s killer. Nor did she seem sad. She said when it happened she was a minor and had no control over things then, and now she is an adult and has no control over what was going on now. She spoke of how she and her two older brothers missed their mom and how hard it was growing up for them. My heart ached for everyone.

I have never supported the death penalty. I know some who have Biblical reasons they quote to support it, and I know many who quote the same Bible to argue against it. I’m not going to get into that right now.

Some see it as a deterrent to murder. It is not. Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have abolished the death penalty. They all have very low murder rates, New Zealand being the highest at 2.4 per 100,000 people. Most of them are less than one. Overall, the United States has a murder rate of 6.9 per 100,000 people. This is an average, since in our country some states have the death penalty and some do not. Twenty-seven states, including South Carolina, have the death penalty. The average murder rate in them is 7.3. Mississippi’s is 23.7, Louisiana’s is 21.3. South Carolina’s is 11.8. In 2022 we had 2,374 murders. While Owens is the first execution in 13 years, I doubt that it will lower our rate. I have had people tell me that if we were to execute more people it would lower the rate. Evidence says otherwise.

Twenty-three states have abolished the death penalty. The murder rate in them is 4.7, much lower than the other states, but still higher than much of the rest of the industrialized world.

I have known quite a few people who have been affected by murder. Family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, schoolmates. Living in South Carolina, with our love of firearms, violence, and disrespect of others, it’s hard not to know someone who hasn’t been touched by a murder. Some of the murderers have been put to death, and I have talked with the families, friends, and co-workers of the victims. I have seen two responses. One is forgiveness. On one level I understand it. They have known themselves to be forgiven, and they know that to bear anger, hatred, and revenge will continue to hurt them. As hard as it is, they find a way to forgive. A few have even spoken to the murderer and let them know. They do not say they are not hurting. But they decide to carry with them the memory of the loved one, but not the anger. That part I struggle with, because…well…I have never had that happen to me.

Then there are others who long to see the murderer die. Many are angry that their death will be “easier” than the death of their loved one. They long for more than death, but agony for the perpetrator. And I have sat with them and listened and prayed. Some have said to me that the death of the murderer will finally give them relief. But it does not. The death of the other person cannot replace the years of love, friendship, laughter, hugs, and so many other things they will miss. After visiting with the victim’s families following the execution, when they can talk about it, the thing I hear them say most is, it wasn’t enough.

It never will be.