Woman whose mother was killed doesn’t know if SC death penalty ruling brings family justice

COLUMBIA, S.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — Death row inmates in South Carolina will soon face a deadly decision: whether they want to receive their final punishment by firing squad, the electric chair or lethal injection.

Wednesday’s major ruling from the state Supreme Court clears the way for officials to restart executions after more than a decade, but it’s unclear when that might happen or if lawyers for death row inmates can appeal the ruling.

The Associated Press reported that there were even mixed opinions among the justices with Wednesday’s ruling.

Despite the decision, a woman whose mother’s killer is on death row doesn’t know if she’s any closer to justice.

“It’s literally a nightmare that never goes away,” said Samantha Leitner.

It’s been 30 years since her mom, Urai Jackson, was killed.

“I literally found my mother the day before my 25th birthday and I just had my 55th birthday, so I’ve literally spent all of my adult life fighting for her to have a voice in this system and for justice to be held in her case,” said Leitner.

In 1997, Gary Terry was convicted and sentenced to death for killing Jackson.  Almost 30 years later, Terry remains on death row.

“It’s been draining, difficult, obviously emotionally fracturing,” said Leitner.

On Wednesday, South Carolina justices issued a ruling saying that the firing squad, lethal injection and the electric chair are all legal.

“The fact that he gets three choices really irritates me, but I get it, nobody wants to do state-sponsored death,” said Leitner. “But some crimes deserve the punishment.”

The AP says while all five justices agreed to part of the ruling, two felt the firing squad was not a legal way to kill an inmate and one of them believes the electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment.

Justice 360, a group of lawyers for death row inmates, sent the following statement:

“Justice 360 and the other attorneys representing the men on death row in South Carolina are disappointed in the outcome of the Owens case. We are currently evaluating the next steps in the litigation and remain committed to advocating for the protection of our clients’ rights.”

Leitner doesn’t know if she’s any closer to justice, but she’s hopeful.

“I understand that the legal process is an extremely slow process, however I never thought in a million years that it would be thirty years later,” she said.

South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty also sent Queen City News a statement on Wednesday’s ruling, reading in part:

SCADP deeply disagrees with the South Carolina Supreme Court’s ruling that allows the state Department of Corrections to restart executions in South Carolina. Allowing executions to begin again in the state would force renewed trauma on victim family members, who will relive the original crime as executions make the news. It will also cause a stressful and traumatic experience of DOC employees participating in premeditated, state-sponsored murder …

The death penalty has been shown to be cruel, corporal, and unusual, through evidence presented at the trial in August 2022, just as it has been shown to be racist, classist, costly, and ineffective.

SCADP remains committed to fighting this irresponsible decision. Our message remains consistent: if the state of South Carolina wants to create true community safety and healing, we should abolish the death penalty and put our limited taxpayer dollars towards effective violence prevention programs, including child abuse prevention, mental health care, treatment for substance use, and community violence interrupters. Killing the 32 people on death row who are already behind bars does nothing to make us safer.

Executive Director Hillary Taylor

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