Letters from a Death Row Inmate: Insightful and Emotional Writings by Freddie Owens
Freddie Eugene Owens’ letters reveal a man who feels both deeply human and fragile, while also expressing anger and making violent threats toward those he perceives have betrayed him.
As Freddie Eugene Owens faces his final hours, YSL News is publishing some of the handwritten letters he composed to a woman he loved. These letters reveal a man caught between fury and poignant vulnerability, reflecting on his existence and impending death.
Owens is scheduled for execution on Friday, despite a new sworn statement from his co-defendant asserting that Owens was not present during the robbery at a convenience store that resulted in his death penalty. Owens was found guilty of killing 41-year-old Irene Grainger Graves during a robbery at her workplace on Halloween night in 1997.
On Wednesday, co-defendant Steven Golden attested in writing that Owens neither shot Graves nor was he at the scene, as reported by the Greenville News, part of the YSL News Network. However, the South Carolina Supreme Court dismissed Golden’s statement, allowing the execution to proceed as scheduled.
YSL News has accessed letters written by Owens to his girlfriend over a period of more than a year in the 1990s.
These letters portray a man grappling with a painful past, affected deeply by childhood trauma. At times, he expresses chilling threats toward those close to him, while in other moments, he reveals a more tender side.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for YSL News. Follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
