A South Carolina death row inmate, 44-year-old Stephen Bryant, has selected execution by firing squad following his conviction for multiple murders in 2004. He is scheduled to be put to death on November 14, 2025.
Bryant admitted to fatally shooting one of his victims and brutally burning the man’s eyes with cigarettes. After the killing, he wrote a taunting message on the wall using the victim’s blood. He also pleaded guilty to the deaths of two additional men during the same crime spree.
South Carolina resumed capital punishment in 2024 and gives condemned prisoners the choice among lethal injection, electrocution, or firing squad. Bryant’s choice makes him the third individual in the state this year to opt for the firing squad.
Prosecutors described the crimes as especially violent and pre-meditated. Defense attorneys said Bryant had a troubled childhood and struggled with substance abuse and mental-health issues. The state’s supreme court denied a delay request tied to the federal government shutdown, and Bryant finalized his execution method selection ahead of the deadline.
His execution will mark another chapter in South Carolina’s renewed use of the firing squad as an option for capital punishment.