Columbia, SC – March 8, 2025 - In a historic and somber moment, South Carolina executed Brad Keith Sigmon by firing squad on March 7, 2025, at 6:08 p.m., marking the first use of this method in the United States in over a decade. Sigmon, convicted in 2001 of brutally murdering his ex-girlfriend’s parents, was pronounced dead at the Broad River Correctional Institution, bringing a 24-year legal saga to a close.
Sigmon, 66, had been on death row since his conviction for the double homicide of David and Gladys Larke in Greenville County. Prosecutors said Sigmon killed the couple with a baseball bat in a fit of rage after his ex-girlfriend ended their relationship. Facing his execution, Sigmon opted for the firing squad over the state’s other available methods—lethal injection and the electric chair—a choice made possible by a 2021 South Carolina law expanding execution options amid ongoing difficulties in obtaining lethal injection drugs.
The execution was the first by firing squad in the U.S. since Ronnie Lee Gardner faced a similar fate in Utah on June 18, 2010. South Carolina officials confirmed that the procedure adhered to strict protocols, with a team of trained marksmen carrying out the sentence behind a shielded wall. Witnesses, including media representatives, reported a clinical and swift process, though the event reignited national debates over capital punishment.
Governor Henry McMaster, a vocal supporter of the death penalty, issued a brief statement: “Justice has been served for the Larke family after more than two decades of waiting.” However, anti-death penalty advocates protested outside the prison, arguing that the return of the firing squad represents a regression to archaic and inhumane practices. “This is not progress—it’s a step backward,” said Sarah Coleman, spokesperson for Carolinians Against Executions.
Sigmon declined to make a final statement, though his legal team had exhausted appeals up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which rejected a last-minute stay on March 6. His attorneys had argued that the firing squad constituted cruel and unusual punishment, a claim that failed to sway the courts.
The execution underscores South Carolina’s resumption of capital punishment after a de facto hiatus since 2011, driven by renewed legislative efforts to address legal and logistical hurdles. With Sigmon’s death, the state has now carried out 44 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
As of today, March 8, 2025, Sigmon’s execution leaves 34 inmates on South Carolina’s death row. 17GEN4.com
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