The first execution in the US in 2025 was carried out in the state of South Carolina on Friday night local time.
The execution of Marion Bowman Jr., a 44-year-old black prisoner, was carried out by lethal injection in a prison in the state of South Carolina. According to the Associated Press, the execution took place on Friday evening local time; this execution is the first execution to be carried out in the US in 2025.
Bowman, who insisted on his innocence until the last days of his life, emphasized in his last words as he died that he did not commit murder; his requests and the efforts of the black prisoner's lawyers to prove his innocence were unsuccessful.
Bowman's lawyers argued in court that his first lawyer pressured Bowman into pleading guilty because he was black and the victim was white. The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected Bowman's final appeal on Thursday.
Bowman is the third black man to be executed in South Carolina in recent months.
South Carolina recently resumed executions after a 13-year hiatus due to problems with lethal injection in South Carolina.
The state has reportedly seen strong protests over wrongful convictions, racial bias in the death penalty and the improper manner in which lethal injection is carried out.
The execution of the black prisoner came as President Donald Trump vowed to resume federal executions.
Trump has pledged to vigorously pursue the use of death sentences at the federal level. Federal executions were also on the agenda during Trump's first term.