(NewsNation) — South Carolina on Friday executed convicted murderer Brad Sigmon by firing squad after the death row inmate called for the end of capital punishment through a written statement that was read to witnesses.
It was the first time in 15 years that a firing squad had been used in the United States, and the first time for South Carolina.
Sigmon, 67, was convicted of fatally beating his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 2001. The execution was carried out Friday about 6:05 p.m. local time after Gov. Henry McMaster declined to grant clemency to Sigmon.
Witnesses at the execution in Columbia say three voluntary marksmen fired in unison at Sigmon, who was wearing a hood and strapped to a chair with a red target over his heart. He reportedly was wearing a black jumpsuit and black Crocs.
The inmate was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m., said Chrysti Shain, spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Corrections. She said the inmate’s last statement, read to witnesses, called for the end of capital punishment.
“I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to end the death penalty,” Sigmon said, according to the statement.
Sigmon had selected firing squad over the electric chair or lethal injection. His attorney, Gerald “Bo” King, told NewsNation earlier that Sigmon was afraid of the electric chair and avoided lethal injection because the last three procedures in South Carolina were botched.
“So, Mr. Sigmund was in the position of having to choose between the firing squad, which has never been used in South Carolina, hasn’t been used in the United States in 15 years, or the prospect of dying for over 20 minutes while strapped to a gurney, while (his) lungs fill up with fluid and blood,” King said. “And having seen this happen with three men that he knew very well — men considered brothers — that was not a choice that he could bring himself to make.”
The last time Sigmon talked to King was Thursday afternoon. Sigmon had made peace with what would happen to him, NewsNation was told.
Some family members of the victims, David Larke and Gladys Gwendolyn Larke, were in attendance to watch the execution. They included the victims’ grandson, Ricky Sims.
“He’s going to pay for what he’s done,” Sims told the Greenville News. “He took away two people who would have done anything for their family. They were the rock of our family … They didn’t deserve it.”
At the time of the murder, Sigmon was attempting to kidnap his ex-girlfriend and confessed that he was likely going to kill her and then himself. He forced her into his car when she arrived at her parents’ home, but she jumped out of it as Sigmon drove away and escaped.
Friday’s execution marks the sixth one that’s planned over the next three weeks in America. The other states that will be carrying out executions are Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Florida using a variety of methods including lethal injection and, in the case of Louisiana, death by suffocation in a gas chamber.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
