Stephen Bryant Set for Firing Squad Nov. 14

Stephen Bryant, 44, a South Carolina inmate convicted for a 2004 killing spree that left three men dead, has elected to be executed by firing squad and is scheduled for Nov. 14. He is to be shot by three volunteer marksmen from about 15 feet away. Prosecutors say Bryant fatally shot Willard “TJ” Tietjen inside his home, burned the victim’s face and eyes with cigarettes, lit candles around the body and used a potholder dipped in Tietjen’s blood to write “victim 4 in 2 weeks. catch me if u can,” and that he also killed two other men in October 2004; Bryant pleaded guilty in 2008 and recent appeals, including a U.S. Supreme Court decision, did not overturn his sentence. South Carolina resumed executions in 2024 after a 13-year pause and added the firing-squad option in 2021; if carried out, Bryant would be the third person executed by firing squad in the state this year. His attorneys have presented mitigating evidence of severe childhood sexual abuse, trauma, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and substance use, and say legal challenges are likely over the firing-squad method after a prior execution in the state allegedly involved shooters missing the heart and causing prolonged suffering.