By WILL POTTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Published: 18:20 EST, 14 November 2025 | Updated: 20:33 EST, 14 November 2025
A South Carolina mass killer was executed by firing squad on Friday after his last-ditch attempt to avoid the death penalty was rejected.
Stephen Bryant, 44, was shot by three volunteers with rifles shortly after 6pm, more than 20 years after he killed three people during a vicious crime spree.
Residents in Sumter County were left terrified by his eight day rampage, which saw him taunt police by writing a message in his victim's blood.
Days before his execution, Bryant petitioned the South Carolina Supreme Court to stay his death penalty as he sought to blame his sickening crimes on brain damage caused by his mother drinking and doing drugs while pregnant with him.
But his fate was sealed as the court ruled that even if Bryant was found to suffer Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, it would not change his death sentence.
He became the third person in South Carolina to die by firing squad this year, a method that he chose due to issues obtaining lethal injection drugs. He also had the option to die by the electric chair.
Bryant chose the firing squad, which saw three volunteers shoot him in the heart from a distance of around 15 feet.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15292945/Stephen-Bryant-executed-South-Carolina-firing-squad-killer.html
