We don’t want it to be completely inhumane, but that is a lesser consideration than effectiveness.

A South Carolina death row inmate has chosen to die by firing squad, a controversial and rarely used execution method that’s legal but is viewed as an inhumane form of justice by many Americans. Brad Sigmon, 67, is scheduled to be executed on March 7. He was convicted in 2001 of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents at their home. Prosecutors said Sigmon also held his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint and attempted to kidnap her, but she escaped. He shot at her as she ran, but missed.

 

Sigmon’s execution next month will be South Carolina’s first death by firing squad, which was legalized in the state in 2021.

 

Sigmon didn’t choose electrocution because it would “burn and cook him alive,” his attorney, Gerald King, said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

 

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In the U.S., 34 people have been executed by firing squad, according to data from the DPIC. It’s the only method of execution that has a 0% botched rate. Comparatively, death by lethal injection has the most botched execution rate at 7.12%.