Overview
- Stephen Bryant, 44, was pronounced dead at 6:05 p.m. at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia after three volunteer corrections officers fired rifles in a coordinated volley.
- Bryant pleaded guilty to a 2004 spree that left three men dead, including Willard “T.J.” Tietjen, whose blood he used to write a taunting message to investigators.
- The South Carolina Supreme Court declined to halt the execution after lawyers cited prenatal brain damage and childhood abuse, and Bryant had no appeals pending at the time of death.
- Under state protocol, the prisoner is restrained in a chair with a hood, an aim point is placed over the heart, and three officers fire from about 15 feet using live ammunition.
- This was South Carolina’s third firing-squad execution in 2025 after the state restarted executions following a 13-year pause, bringing the U.S. total to 43 executions this year as disputes continue over the method’s humaneness and accuracy.