Owens is set to be executed by lethal injection in the state's first execution in 13 years. This despite a key witness who testified against Owens now proclaiming his innocence.

In South Carolina, the governor has the lone ability to grant clemency and reduce a death sentence to life in prison. However, no governor has done that in the state’s 43 executions since the death penalty was restarted in the U.S. in 1976.

If it moves forward, it will be the state's first execution in 13 years and the 14th execution in the nation this year. It's also the first of five executions the United States is carrying out in a six-day period between Sept.