First firing squad execution in country since 2010 set for early March

A death row inmate in South Carolina has decided he will die by firing squad.

Brad Keith Sigmon, who is 67 years old, will be executed on March 7, 2025.

He’ll be the first inmate to die by firing squad in America since the death of Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010.

Sigmon was sentenced to death after he murdered the parents of his ex-girlfriend, David and Gladys Larke, with a baseball bat back in 2001.

South Carolina law allows prisoners on death row to choose between three methods of execution -- lethal injection, electric chair, or firing squad.

If they do not make a decision, the default is the electric chair.

Sigmon’s attorney has released a statement on his client’s decision, saying Sigmon had no choice but to choose “the least torturous way to die.”

His attorney went on to say that “there is no justice here.”

“Everything about this barbaric, state-sanctioned atrocity -- from the choice to the method itself -- is abjectly cruel. We should not just be horrified – we should be furious,” his attorney, Gerald “Bo” King said.

The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, which represents the state in death penalty cases like Sigmon’s has not responded for comment.

However, the state’s Department of Corrections has confirmed that the Broad River Correctional Institute has been renovated to “conduct firing squads.”

“The department is ready to carry out an order of execution by firing squad,” the agency said.

The agency explained that there will be three members of the firing squad, all voluntary corrections staff members.

They will fire at Sigmon’s heart from 15 feet away.

“Witnesses to the execution, which typically involve family members of both the inmate and victim, members of the news media, attorneys, and prison staff” will still be able to see the right-side profile of Sigman while he is executed.

A hood will be placed on Sigman's head during the execution.

The department also said they have installed bullet-resistant glass to ensure the safety of the witnesses present that day.