Summary (tl;dr)

Stephen Bryant, a South Carolina inmate convicted of three murders, was executed by firing squad on November 14, 2025, becoming the third person in the state to die by this method this year.

Essential Background

Stephen Bryant was convicted of three murders that occurred over a five-day period in October 2004 in Sumter County, South Carolina. During one of the murders, that of Willard "TJ" Tietjen, Bryant notably burned Tietjen's eyes with cigarettes after shooting him and wrote "catch me if u can" on the wall with the victim's blood. He pleaded guilty in 2008 and was sentenced to death. Over the years, his legal team pursued appeals, with recent arguments focusing on potential brain damage from his mother's alcohol and drug use during pregnancy, which they argued was not adequately considered during his sentencing. However, these appeals were ultimately rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court and the South Carolina Supreme Court. South Carolina had a 13-year pause in executions due to difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs, leading the state to reintroduce methods such as the firing squad and electric chair, restarting executions in September 2024.

The Full Story

Stephen Bryant, 44, was executed by firing squad at the Capital Punishment Facility in Broad River Correctional Institute in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday, November 14, 2025, at 6:05 p.m. He chose the firing squad over lethal injection or the electric chair, making him the third person executed by this method in South Carolina this year and the 50th person executed in the state since 1985. Three volunteer prison employees carried out the execution, and Bryant made no final statement before a hood was placed on his head. His execution followed a final, unsuccessful appeal to the South Carolina Supreme Court, which rejected the argument that his brain damage from prenatal substance exposure should have been a mitigating factor in his death sentence. Prosecutors maintained that his crimes were premeditated and deliberate.

Why It Matters

The execution of Stephen Bryant highlights several significant aspects of the justice system, particularly regarding capital punishment in the United States. It underscores the ongoing debate surrounding the death penalty, including arguments about the humane nature of different execution methods and the consideration of mitigating factors such as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and childhood abuse in sentencing. His execution by firing squad, as the third such instance in South Carolina this year, also draws attention to the state's efforts to resume executions after a prolonged hiatus caused by a lack of lethal injection drugs. This situation reflects the broader national challenges states face in carrying out death sentences and the controversial re-emergence of older execution methods.

Geographic Location

• Sumter County, South Carolina, United States (location of the 2004 murders)
• Columbia, South Carolina, United States (location of Broad River Correctional Institute where the execution occurred)