Brad Sigmon, 67-year-old convicted murderer was executed by firing squad on Friday, the first such execution in the U.S. since 2010. The execution was carried out at the Broad River Correctional Institution, and Sigmon is the first inmate in South Carolina put to death using this method in the modern era.
Mowing, convicted of the 2001 gruesome murder of his ex-girlfriend’s parents, opted against the electric chair and lethal injection out of concerns of extreme distress, choosing the firing squad instead. He was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. after three volunteer prison staff members fired from behind a wall at his heart.
Executions bring up the argument over capital punishment and as it does, local people gather outside this prison carrying protest signs that read “Execute Justice, Not People.” Legal advocates and supporters pleaded for mercy saying Sigmon had changed in prison and was also mentally ill. However, Governor Henry McMaster has upheld the death sentence. 
South Carolina had put executions on hold for 13 years due to a scarcity of lethal injection drugs but resumed them in the past year. With 28 inmates already on death row, state Supreme Court has opened door for more executions, possible every 5 weeks.
Sigmon’s death underscores the years-long court and moral struggle over capital punishment in the U.S. as South Carolina resumes its death penalty program.
