Officials in South Carolina have executed Freddie Owens, convicted in the 1997 murder of a convenience store clerk, marking the state's first execution in over a decade.

A man convicted of a 1997 murder died by lethal injection Friday in the southeastern US state of South Carolina, the state's first death row inmate executed in 13 years.Prior to Owens, the last death row inmate executed in South Carolina was 36-year-old Jeffrey Motts on May 6,

Last minutes appeals, recanted testimony, allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, questions over the lethal injection fail to stop South Carolina’s first execution in more than a decade.