South Carolina performs Marion Bowman as he declares his innocence | South Carolina

South Carolina has executed Marion Bowman JR, a 44-year-old man who has maintained his innocence and in his last days became obvious about the brutal conditions of the death council.

The state, which has aggressively revived the death penalty after a 13-year break, killed Bowman by deadly injection Friday night. It was the first execution in the US of the new year.

Bowman and his lawyers had fought for the courts to intervene and visit his conviction, referring to ineffective legal lawyer, claims withheld evidence and concerns about the extracted method of killing.

But Thursday, the US Supreme Court Rejected His last appeal when his family pleaded that his life should be spared.

Bowman is the third black man facing execution in South Carolina in recent months after the state was able to revive his supply of pentobarbital, a sedative. The cases have given rise to protests over wrongful beliefs, racial bias in the death penalty and the suffering caused by pentobarbital.

When the deadly injection process began, Bowman briefly looked at his lawyer in space and then closed his eyes before his breathing became heavy, according to Associated Press, like witnessed the execution. About 20 minutes later, a medical professional listened to his chest and put a hand on his neck, and he was declared dead at 1 p.m. 18.27 local time.

Bowman, imprisoned for more than half of his life, was convicted of killing 2001 by Kandee MartinA 21-year-old childhood friend. He has said he didn’t kill her And that he refused to accept a plea of ​​agreement because of his innocence. His lawyers said the evidence used against him was not reliable; The primary witnesses involving him were two men who were also charged with the crime who received reduced judgments, and a third man who had pending charges in a separate case subsequently abandoned.

His lawyers also argued that the state detained evidence that came to doubt the witnesses, including a memo outlining a claim that one of the witnesses confessed to the shooting.

Bowman’s legal team also argued in a recent petition that the lawyer representing him during the trial was “infected by his own racism” and wrote that the lawyer was pushing him to plead guilty because he was black and his victim was white .

Attorneys for the State replied that Bowman already waived arguments, and South Carolina Supreme Court called His appeal “Meritless”. The US Supreme Court rejected his petition regarding his trial attorney’s “pre -income”. His lawyers also challenged the state’s use of pentobarbital, noting that an anesthesiologist who underwent the autopsy of the last man executed by South Carolina said it seemed to be “deliberately experiencing feelings of drowning ”and that it took 23 minutes to kill him.

In his prepared last words, Bowman said, “I didn’t kill Kande Martin. I am innocent of the crimes I am here to die for … I know that Kandee’s family is in pain. They are rightly angered. If my death brings them some relief and ability to focus on the good times and funny stories, I assume it will have served a purpose. I hope they find peace. “

He continued: “Living behind these walls has taught me a lot about loss and grief. It’s never easy, but I’ve learned to find comfort in sharing good memories and fun stories. My suffering will be at an end soon, but I know it’s the beginning of others. Keep your head up, remember that I love you and please share your memories of me. “

On Wednesday, Lorraine Johnson, Bowman’s aunt, had pleaded that his verdict should be commuted, noting that he was close to his daughter and deserved to build a relationship with his newborn grandson.

“Marion is someone who would do something for someone else if he is in a stand. He has been a kind -hearted person ever since he was a child, ”she said in a statement.

In an unusual step, Bowman did not choose to request drug addicts in prison for a crime he did not commit ”. The decision was a “powerful refusal to legitimize an unfair process that has already stolen so much of his life,” the lawyer said.

No South Carolina Governor has given a clemency to a capital defendant in the modern death penalty. South Carolina Governor has typically waited minutes before the execution to declare his decision, has a tradition that is advocates described as cruel.

On Friday night, Vann called the execution “an irreversible and tragic spontaneous abort” in a statement and said the justice system was “more interested in a conviction than the truth.

“After his arrest at just 20 years old, Marion grew to a loving caretaker who blessed his family, friends, colleagues and legal teams. We will continue to fight for other victims of this broken system, ”she said.

ACLU from South Carolina brought a lawsuit this week that challenged a 2023 state law that keeps the secret identity of its pentobarbital suppliers, a measure that enabled authorities to revive executions. The defendant is forced to choose how they will die – either deadly injection, shooting team or electrocution.

The execution comes as Donald Trump has promised to strongly pursue the death penalty at the federal level. Joe Biden commuted most federal defendants who were sentenced to death before pulling down, but his clemency action did not affect people on state dead rows like Bowman.

In previous conversations with his lawyer, who was forwarded to The Guardian, Bowman talked about the “inhuman” treatment of people at the death council placed on “execution watch”. In September, when the state said he was in line with being killed, he was moved to a lonely cell with nearly 24/7 isolation, cut off from the men on the death of the death that has become his family for decades. He could touch both walls at the same time, lost access to many of his belongings and had to carry full body checkers and be led around with a dog band when he left his cell.

“These people have helped me to survive this – people who would never have been together on the outside who are so different but still have so much humanity in common,” Bowman said of the others on the death of the death of death, separated from him in his Last months.

A spokesman for the prison previously refused to comment on the conditions.

Boyd Young, one of Bowman’s lawyers and a close friend of 15 years, said on Thursday that Bowman spent his last days writing farewell letters and preparing to donate his belongings to other men at the Death Council, including a chess set. He got his “last meal” on Wednesday, including fried oysters, shrimp and chicken, juice, chocolate cake and banana pudding – foods he probably haven’t had for decades. He ate it alone.

He also got an opportunity to keep his grandson for the first time.

“He is far more than a client. He is a family member, ”Young said, noting that Bowman built relationships with his wife and children and exchanged drawings and letters over the years. “To kill him in no way makes the world a better place.”

In Bowman’s last letter to Young, he said, “I’ve never wanted to write this to you. It crushes my heart to do it. Man i love you brother! (From) The moment I met you were you in my corner … thank you (for) to bring so many people in (to) meet me and eventually grow to love me too. “Bowman expressed Young’s gratitude for making him an uncle for his children and taking him on” trips around the world “through the photos and postcards that his family sent.

Bowman’s letter ended: “I stop now before everything in me breaks. I love you for life, brother! “

Bowman also wrote poetry while he was imprisoned and released one Last poem Just before his death entitled Last Breath or Sight.

It said partially:

Let there be no mistake –

I have felt love for every breath I have taken.

I hope I have yielded a good return on that investment.

So when I have breathed my last gasp,

The good gentleman just took back what he gave me as breath.

In his last words before execution, Bowman thanked his family and supporters and said of the other men on Death Row: “None of these guys that I have come to know and grow into love are the people they were when they Had their moment it costs them everything … We all ask for grace and forgiveness, but the outside world is stuck with pictures of monsters committed by the state while our real voices are silently. We are not what the state feels us to be. We are friendly, caring, loving people, and it’s a shame that the world can’t see it. “