South Carolina man is scheduled to be executed by firing squad

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A antheral successful South Carolina is scheduled to beryllium executed Friday by a firing squad, the 3rd idiosyncratic to dice by that method successful the authorities this year.

Three situation employees, each with unrecorded ammunition, person volunteered to transportation retired the execution of Stephen Bryant, 44, who killed 3 people successful 5 days successful a agrarian country of the authorities successful 2004.

Bryant has nary appeals pending earlier the 6 p.m. scheduled execution astatine the decease enactment installation astatine Broad River Correctional Institution successful Columbia.

He tin inquire the politician for clemency and that determination won't beryllium announced until minutes earlier the execution is acceptable to start. But nary South Carolina politician has offered clemency since the decease punishment resumed successful the U.S. successful 1976.

The firing squad has a long and convulsive history astir the world. Death by a hail of bullets has been utilized to punish mutinies and desertion successful armies, arsenic frontier justness successful America’s Old West and arsenic a instrumentality of panic and governmental repression successful the erstwhile Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

But successful caller years, it's been revived successful the U.S. Some lawmakers accidental it's the quickest and astir humane mode to execute a person.

That's since a fig of botched executions by different methods, including lethal injection drugs. South Carolina and different states person struggled to support capable supplies of lethal injection drugs.

In portion due to the fact that of this, South Carolina paused executions for 13 years. The authorities past restarted successful September 2024, aft which 4 men person been executed by lethal injection and 2 by firing squad. The authorities is among respective wherever the electrical seat is inactive legal.

The 3 different caller firing squad executions successful the U.S. person been successful Utah with nary successful that authorities since 2010. The method is besides inactive ineligible successful Idaho and a backup method if others aren't disposable successful Oklahoma and Mississippi.

Bryant admitted to sidesplitting Willard “TJ” Tietjen successful October 2004 aft stopping by his secluded location successful agrarian Sumter County and saying helium had car trouble.

Tietjen was changeable respective times. Bryant past answered Tietjen’s telephone aft it rang respective times telling some his woman and girl that helium was the prowler and had killed them, prosecutors said.

Bryant besides killed 2 men — 1 earlier and 1 aft Tietjen. He gave the men rides and erstwhile they got retired to urinate connected the broadside of the road, helium changeable them successful the back, authorities said.

During the search, officers stopped astir everyone driving connected ungraded roads successful the country conscionable eastbound of Columbia, and told radical to beryllium leery of anyone they did not cognize asking for help.

Bryant's lawyers said helium was troubled successful the months earlier the killing, begging a probation cause and his aunt to get him assistance due to the fact that helium couldn’t halt reasoning astir being sexually abused arsenic a kid by a radical of relatives. They said helium tried to header by utilizing meth and smoking joints helium sprayed with bug killer.

Bryant volition beryllium the 43rd antheral killed by court-ordered execution truthful acold this twelvemonth successful the U.S. At slightest 14 others are scheduled to beryllium enactment to decease during the remainder of 2025 and adjacent year.

Bryant volition besides beryllium the 50th idiosyncratic executed successful South Carolina since the authorities restarted the decease punishment 40 years ago.

At 6 p.m. Friday, the curtain volition unfastened successful the decease enclosure astatine a Columbia situation with less than a twelve witnesses sitting down bulletproof glass.

Bryant volition beryllium strapped into a chair. A achromatic quadrate with a reddish bull’s-eye people volition beryllium placed implicit his bosom by a doctor. Bryant's lawyer tin work his last connection if helium has one. A situation worker volition past spot a hood implicit Bryant's head, locomotion crossed the tiny country and propulsion unfastened a achromatic shadiness wherever the firing squad waits.

Without an audible oregon ocular informing to witnesses, the shooters volition occurrence high-powered rifles from 15 feet (4.6 meters) away.

A doc volition past travel retired wrong a infinitesimal oregon two, analyse him and state him dead.

Lawyers for the past antheral executed by a firing squad said the shooters astir missed the bosom of Mikal Mahdi. They suggested by hardly hitting the bottommost of the bosom that Mahdi was successful agonizing pain for 3 oregon 4 times longer than experts accidental helium would person been if his bosom had been deed directly.