South Carolina is preparing to execute the third inmate to be put to death since September as the state goes through a backlog of prisoners who exhausted their appeals while the state couldn’t find lethal injection drugs.

South Carolina executed Marion Bowman Jr., the third inmate in four months, as the state resumes executions after a 13-year pause. Bowman maintained his innocence until his final moments.

Marion Bowman Jr., a 44-year-old inmate, is scheduled to be executed Friday night, marking the first execution in South Carolina this year. Bowman, a native of