Execution Horror: South Carolina Inmate Left Gasping After Botched Firing Squad

Lawyers for a South Carolina death row inmate are sounding the alarm after what they describe as a botched firing squad execution that allegedly left the man conscious and in agony after bullets missed his heart, according to newly filed legal documents.

The inmate, Kenneth Williams, 52, was executed last month in what was only the second firing squad execution carried out in the United States in over a decade. While officials declared the execution successful and within protocol, witness accounts and post-mortem evidence reportedly tell a different, alarming story.

According to his legal team, bullets struck Williams in the lower torso and abdomen instead of the heart, causing a slow and painful death that violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

“He was conscious, gasping, and suffering for nearly 10 minutes,” said attorney Lisa Franklin in a statement. “This was not justice. It was torture.”

Witnesses to the execution, including media representatives and a spiritual advisor, have also submitted affidavits indicating that Williams appeared to grimace, convulse, and remain alert far longer than expected.

The South Carolina Department of Corrections has not yet commented on the new legal claims, but previously stated that the execution was carried out according to the procedures developed under the state’s 2021 firing squad protocol.

Firing squad executions were reinstated in South Carolina as an alternative due to difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs. Under state law, inmates may choose among lethal injection, electrocution, or firing squad. Williams had selected the firing squad, reportedly under protest, after alleging all available options were unconstitutional.

His legal team is now calling for an independent investigation, a full autopsy review, and a moratorium on further executions by firing squad.

The incident has reignited national debate around execution methods and prompted civil rights organisations to demand federal oversight of state execution protocols.