Brad Sigmon, 67, is set to be executed by firing squad tonight (March 7), the first execution of its kind in South Carolina’s history. Sigmon, who has been on death row for over 20 years, made a last-minute plea for clemency, hoping for Governor Henry McMaster’s intervention.

Sigmon was sentenced to death in 2002 for the brutal murders of his ex-girlfriend’s parents, David and Gladys Larke, in Greenville County. Court records state he “beat them to death with a baseball bat” before kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Barbre, at gunpoint. Barbre escaped from his vehicle before further harm.

Sigmon’s legal team argued against the firing squad method, calling it “cruel and unusual punishment.” However, South Carolina law permits this method due to the unavailability of lethal injection drugs.

The case has drawn attention from human rights groups, with Amnesty International stating the execution would be “a grave injustice.”

With time running out, Sigmon’s fate lies in the governor’s hands, though no intervention has been announced.