A man who killed three people more than 20 years ago and left a taunting message for police with the victim's blood was executed by firing squad Friday evening in Columbia.
Stephen Corey Bryant's execution was the state's fifth of the year and third by firing squad. South Carolina resumed executions in September 2024 after a 13-year halt. Bryant's execution was the seventh in the state since the practice restarted.
South Carolina is now tied for the second-most executions of any state in the country this year with Texas and Alabama. Florida leads all states in executions with 16 so far in 2025.
The 13-year pause in executions came as the state could not secure the drugs needed for lethal injections. A state law passed in 2023 that shields the identity of pharmaceutical companies providing the needed drugs. Public disclosure of the pharmaceutical companies held-up proceedings, as ethical objections and potential public pushback made the companies weary to provide the needed supplies.
But in the wait, South Carolina added the firing squad as an option.
Six prisoners in the United States have been executed by firing squad since 1977. Utah was responsible for three of these executions in 1977, 1996 and 2010. South Carolina matched that 33-year total with 44-year-old Bryant's execution.
Death row inmates in the state have three options: electric chair, lethal injection or firing squad.
The gun-driven practice, although ramping up in use, is enveloped in controversy. Protesters and battles in court have followed both the general practice of executions in the state and the firing squad.
The execution
Bryant was sentenced to death for the murder of Willard "TJ" Tietjen, a 62-year-old Sumter County man.
On Friday, a hood was placed on Bryant's head, and he was shot from 15 feet away by three volunteers. He did not make a final statement, according to state Department of Corrections Director of Communications Chrysti Shain.
Bryant was declared dead at 6:05 p.m., three minutes after being shot in the heart simultaneously. He sat in a chair with his arms, legs and head strapped down in the Broad River Correctional Institution's death chamber.
Jeffrey Collins, a reporter with the Associated Press and witness to the execution, said Bryant's breaths stayed consistently shallow throughout the entire process — a difference from the other two executions by firing squad he had witnessed.
Collins was joined by Ted Clifford from The State Newspaper and Naomi Popa from WIS News 10 in the pool of media reporters. Three members of the Tietjen family witnessed the execution alongside the media pool. Collins said the trio held hands as they watched from the front row. Representatives from the 3rd Circuit Solicitor's Office, the Sumter County Sheriff's Office and Bryant's attorney were also present.
Bryant's final meal was served Wednesday and consisted of spicy mixed seafood stir-fry over rice, fried fish over rice, two eggrolls, three stuffed shrimp, duck and soy sauce, two Zero candy bars, German chocolate cake and two Pepsi drinks.
Three murders in one week
Bryant murdered Tietjen after stopping by Tietjen's house saying he had car trouble. Investigators said Bryant shot the victim and burned his eyes with cigarettes. He then took calls from Tietjen's family members.
To taunt police, Bryant scribbled "catch me if u can" in blood on a wall, according to court records.
He pleaded guilty to the crime in 2008.
He also pleaded guilty to the murder of two other men.
One was killed before Bryant murdered Tietjen, and one was killed after Tietjen. The victims were Clifton Gainey and Christopher Burgess. Bryant and Gainey were already acquainted.
Tietjen's murder landed Bryant a death sentence; Bryant's two other murders garnered him two life sentences.
His lawyers made a final appeal earlier in November in an effort to stop the execution. The defense team argued that Bryant was born with an intellectual disability because his mother abused drugs and alcohol while pregnant, which had affected his ability to follow the law and was not properly considered in the original sentencing.
Attorneys also revealed an alleged history of sexual abuse Bryant faced in his youth.
The state rejected the appeal Nov. 11. It left Bryant set to be executed.
Protestors and grievances
Executions, and particularly ones by firing squad, have attracted criticism throughout the state since starting back up in 2024. Advocacy groups argue it as an extension of cruel and unusual punishment.
About 20 protestors with South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty stood outside the Broad River Correctional Institution gates in Columbia Friday where Bryant was executed. The group has made it a mission to stand outside during each execution.
Vigils were hosted in Columbia, Spartanburg and North Charleston prior to the execution as a call to the governor and his clemency decision. The effort did not succeed.
Following the execution, SCADP Executive Director Rev. Hillary Taylor released a statement that condemned both Bryant's actions and the state's decision to kill him.
"Our opposition to Stephen's execution does not mean we shrug our shoulders to the crimes which he committed," the statement said.
"Mr. Bryant is not the only person who was sentenced to death row because our society did not take care of him, and as long as we have the death penalty, he will not be the last," Taylor said.
Ron Kaz, an avid protestor at state executions since 1985, said he keeps coming out because the executions keep happening. He did not see death as a valid punishment for crimes, including murders like those committed by Bryant.
"I don't think you can solve problems by killing people," he said. "They come out here and say, 'The state of South Carolina carried out its sentence,' but I'm a part of the state of South Carolina. I'm a part of what's happening."
Kaz called the system unjust.
Following Bryant's execution, 23 people are now on the state's death row list.
Of those still on the list, 39% are Black in a state where the population is around 27% Black. Four of the seven inmates executed since the state resumed executions were Black. Three were white.
Bryant's firing squad execution comes after the year's second firing squad execution was called "botched" in court documents.
Mikal Mahdi, the second South Carolinian executed by firing squad this year, was set to death April 11. Following the execution, his legal team filed a complaint with the South Carolina Supreme Court. Associated Press's Collins, who also witnessed Mahdi's execution, said his arms flexed and "his breaths continued for about 80 seconds before he appeared to take one final gasp" following Mahdi's execution.
The attorneys who filed the complaint said only two of the bullets struck Mahdi and did not entirely hit his heart. The South Carolina Department of Corrections, however, commissioned an autopsy that claimed otherwise. Corrections claimed two of the bullets created the same gunshot wound and struck his heart.
The state is set continue with future executions.
