A South Carolina death row inmate's final meal before being executed by firing squad has been revealed.
Stephen Bryant, a 44-year-old convicted killer, was put to death on Friday (November 14), marking the state’s third use of the controversial method this year alone.
Bryant was pronounced dead at 6:05PM after three prison officers, each armed with live ammunition, opened fire.
He made no final statement and showed no emotion as he looked at the witnesses behind bulletproof glass. Seconds later, shots rang out, and the red bullseye target pinned to his chest flew forward.
Onlookers shared that he took a few shallow breaths before a final spasm, and a doctor confirmed his death a little over a minute later.
Final Meal Before Execution
Bryant becomes the 50th person executed in South Carolina since the state reinstated the death penalty four decades ago and the 43rd executed in the US this year.
Before facing the firing squad, he requested a final meal: spicy mixed seafood stir-fry, fried fish over rice, egg rolls, stuffed shrimp, two candy bars, and German chocolate cake, per The New York Post.
His attorney, Bo King, revealed harrowing details about Bryant’s life, pointing to a genetic disorder, brain damage caused by his mother’s substance abuse, and years of physical and sexual abuse from relatives.
“Tonight, South Carolina gave Mr Bryant his final wounds in a lifetime of suffering,” King said in a statement after the execution.
“Mr Bryant’s impairments left him unable to endure the tormenting memories of his childhood. When these traumas pushed him to mental collapse, he pleaded for professional help. He was refused care by our broken mental health system because he could not afford the fee of $75," they added.
The lawyer described the death row inmate as a man who had found a kind of peace before his death. “We will remember his unlikely friendships, his fierce protectiveness, and his love for nature, the water, and the world.”
.webp_4nh1Az?tr=cr-0.0.1440.863,f-webp,q-75)
South Carolina’s governor denied clemency, and the state’s supreme court rejected appeals claiming the original sentencing had failed to properly consider Bryant’s brain damage.
The attorney general’s office painted a different picture, calling Bryant “methodical” and “cunning,” citing the “gratuitous infliction of horror” in his crimes.
Prosecutors said the prisoner tortured one victim, Willard “TJ” Tietjen, burning his eyes with cigarettes and smearing taunting messages in blood, AP News reported.
He also fatally shot two other men, one before and one after Tietjen, by pulling over to let them urinate before shooting them in the back.
Growing Controversy Around The Firing Squad
Bryant’s execution came as South Carolina ramped up its use of capital punishment after a 13-year hiatus caused by the inability to obtain lethal injection drugs.
Since resuming executions in 2024, the state has executed seven inmates: four by lethal injection and three by firing squad.
The method has sparked renewed national outrage. Human rights groups have slammed it as “barbaric,” while state officials defend it as quick and humane.
The Rev. Hillary Taylor of South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty condemned the choice inmates are now forced to make.
“Do you choose being poisoned to death in a way that is akin to waterboarding, do you get cooked to death by electrocution, or do you get your heart blown out of your chest by a firing squad?” she said.
South Carolina now joins Utah as the only two states to have executed three people by firing squad in the modern era. Idaho is preparing to make it its primary method, while the option remains legal in Mississippi and Oklahoma.