A South Carolina man, convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat, was executed by firing squad on Friday, marking the first such execution in the United States in 15 years. Brad Sigmon, 67, was put to death at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina.
The execution took place at 6:05 p.m. local time, and Sigmon was pronounced dead three minutes later, at 6:08 p.m., according to prison spokeswoman Chrysti Shain.
Sigmon, dressed in a black jumpsuit with a small red target placed over his heart, was strapped to a chair in the death chamber. A three-person firing squad, made up of volunteers from the South Carolina Department of Corrections, carried out the execution from about 15 feet away, shooting through a slit in the wall.
A final statement read by Sigmon’s attorney, Gerald “Bo” King, expressed Sigmon’s desire for a message of “love” and a call to fellow Christians to work toward ending the death penalty.
Sigmon, who confessed to the 2001 murders of David and Gladys Larke, had appealed to the Supreme Court for a last-minute stay of execution, but his request was denied. Governor Henry McMaster also rejected his clemency appeal.
Sigmon had been presented with the choice of lethal injection, the firing squad, or the electric chair. He opted for the firing squad, which his lawyer described as an “impossible” choice, explaining that lethal injection posed risks of a prolonged death and the electric chair would result in a painful and horrific experience.
The last time a firing squad execution took place in the US was in 2010 in Utah. South Carolina, along with Utah, Idaho, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, has authorized the use of firing squads for executions. Other states, such as Alabama, have recently adopted nitrogen gas as a method, though it has been condemned by UN experts.
Six executions have taken place in the US so far this year, following 25 in 2024. Twenty-three states have abolished the death penalty, while three states—California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania—have instituted moratoriums.
The execution occurred amid ongoing debates over the morality and methods of capital punishment, with former President Donald Trump expressing support for expanding its use.
