US News : On March 7, 2025, South Carolina executed Brad Sigmon, a 67-year-old inmate, by firing squad, marking the first such execution in the United States since 2010. This event, reported widely by outlets like CNN, The New York Times, and NPR, was also the first firing squad execution in South Carolina’s history. Sigmon, convicted in 2002 of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s parents, David and Gladys Larke, with a baseball bat in 2001, was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. ET at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia.
Execution Details
Sigmon chose the firing squad over South Carolina’s other legal options—lethal injection and the electric chair—due to concerns about the pain and secrecy surrounding lethal injection, as noted by his attorney, Gerald “Bo” King. The state’s protocol involved three volunteer Department of Corrections employees firing rifles with live ammunition from 15 feet away, targeting a bullseye over Sigmon’s heart.
He was strapped to a chair, hooded, and wore a jumpsuit. The process was swift, with death declared within minutes, contrasting with the 20-minute duration of recent lethal injection executions in the state.
Background and Context
South Carolina reinstated the firing squad as an execution method in 2021 amid difficulties procuring lethal injection drugs, a challenge that halted executions for 13 years until September 2024.
The state now allows inmates to choose between the three methods, with electrocution as the default if no choice is made. Sigmon’s execution was the fourth by firing squad in the U.S. since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1976, with the previous three occurring in Utah, the most recent being Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010.
Sigmon’s case drew attention due to his age (the oldest person executed by South Carolina), his expressed remorse, and his legal team’s unsuccessful appeals for clemency. They argued he had reformed in prison, citing his faith and service, but Governor Henry McMaster denied the request, consistent with the state’s record of never granting clemency since 1976. Protests outside the prison reflected broader debates about capital punishment, with demonstrators holding signs like “All Life is Precious.”
Broader Implications
This execution underscores a shift in execution methods as states grapple with lethal injection drug shortages. Five states—Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah—currently permit firing squads, often as a backup. Posts on X and news reports highlight mixed public sentiment, from pride in South Carolina’s resolve to unease at the method’s brutality.
The event also coincides with renewed national focus on the death penalty under President Trump’s administration, which has pledged to bolster execution capabilities.
This was a landmark moment, both for its rarity and its reflection of ongoing tensions in U.S. capital punishment practices.
