Three prison employees volunteered to carry out the execution.
A triple murderer who spent more than two decades on death row picked one of the most gruesome methods of execution on Friday (November 14).
Stephen Bryant decided against South Carolina’s generally preferred options of lethal injection or the electric chair, the latter of which is the default method of execution if the inmate doesn’t make a choice, and chose death by firing squad.
In doing so, forty-four-year-old Bryant, who had spent 21 years on death row for the murders of three men in five days, became only the third person to die by firing squad in the state of South Carolina this year.
Three prison employees, all with live ammunition, volunteered to come forward and carry out the execution.
The men whom Bryant murdered included a father who had simply asked for help when his car broke down near the killer’s home. On Friday night, three family members of the victims served as witnesses, holding hands during the execution at the jail.
Bryant opted against giving a final statement and died within minutes of the impact, confirming himself as the seventh person put to death by South Carolina in 14 months.
The state previously served a 13-year pause in executions when it couldn’t obtain lethal injection drugs.
Execution is a legal penalty in 27 US states at the state level, plus at the federal level and for some military offences, with Florida setting a record number of executions in less than 12 months, having carried out its 16th execution on Thursday evening.
Bryan Frederick Jennings was given the lethal injection for raping and murdering a little girl four decades ago.
In South Carolina, Bryant ordered a spicy mixed seafood stir-fry, fried fish over rice, egg rolls, stuffed prawns, two sweets, and a slice of German chocolate cake for his final meal.
Bo King, a South Carolina attorney who works on death penalty cases, said Bryant suffered from a genetic disorder, endured sexual and physical abuse by relatives, and was harmed by his mother’s binge drinking, which he said “permanently damaged his body and brain.”
“Mr Bryant’s impairments left him unable to endure the tormenting memories of his childhood,” Mr King contended in a statement, adding that Bryant “showed grace and courage in forgiving his family, and great love for those both inside and outside of prison.”
“We will remember his unlikely friendships, his fierce protectiveness, and his love for nature, the water, and the world,” Mr King wrote.
Bryant admitted to killing Willard “TJ” Tietjen in October 2004 after stopping at his remote home in Sumter County, South Carolina, claiming he had car trouble, before shooting him several times.
When Mr Tietjen’s phone rang, Bryant answered it, telling both his wife and daughter that he was the prowler and that he had killed them, prosecutors said.
Bryant slayed two other men, before and after the murder of Mr Tietjen, offering both of those victims rides before shooting them in the back when they stepped out to urinate on the side of the road, according to police.
During the search for the killer, officers stopped nearly every driver on dirt roads in the area and warned residents to be cautious of strangers asking for help.
