South Carolina to Proceed with Execution of Stephen Bryant by Firing Squad
South Carolina is set to proceed with the execution of Stephen Bryant, who was convicted of killing three people over five days more than two decades ago. Bryant, 44, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad at a Columbia prison on Friday at 6 p.m. Despite a last-minute appeal by Bryant's lawyers, the South Carolina Supreme Court rejected the appeal, stating that even if Bryant had Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, it would not change the outcome of his death sentence. The court emphasized Bryant's high level of planning and calculation in the crimes he committed.
Bryant's crimes included the killing of Willard “TJ” Tietjen in 2004, where he left taunting messages in the victim's blood. He also shot and killed two men he was giving rides to over a five-day period in Sumter County. Bryant's lawyers argued that his brain damage from his mother's alcohol and drug use during pregnancy was not fully considered during his sentencing. They also highlighted the abuse Bryant suffered as a child, which they claimed affected his ability to conform to the law.
The court sided with prosecutors, who argued that Bryant's crimes were not impulsive but rather methodical and cunning. Bryant can still request clemency from the governor to reduce his death sentence to life in prison, but no South Carolina governor has granted clemency in recent times. Bryant has chosen to die by firing squad, making him the third person to be executed by this method in South Carolina this year.
The state's struggles to find drugs for lethal injection led to a pause in executions, prompting lawmakers to introduce the firing squad as an alternative method. Bryant's execution will be the seventh in South Carolina since 2024, with previous executions carried out by lethal injection. The use of the firing squad in executions is rare in the United States, with only a few cases recorded in Utah.