The most recent execution in the United States took place on March 7, 2025, when South Carolina executed Brad Sigmon by firing squad.

Quick Scoop

The very latest execution

  • Date: March 7, 2025.
  • State: South Carolina.
  • Person executed: Brad Sigmon, a 67‑year‑old man convicted of a double murder.
  • Method: Firing squad, which is extremely rare in modern U.S. executions.

This execution was notable because it was the first firing‑squad execution in the U.S. since 2010 and only the fourth since the modern era of the death penalty began after the 1970s.

Context: How often this happens now

  • As of the end of 2024, only a minority of death‑penalty states had actually carried out executions in the previous decade; many have the death penalty on the books but rarely use it.
  • Overall U.S. executions per year have been trending downward over the last two decades, even though the law still allows them in several states and at the federal level.

Why this became a trending topic

  • The use of a firing squad instead of lethal injection generated national and international attention, with debates over whether it is more “honest” or more brutal than other methods.
  • It fed into ongoing forum and social‑media discussions about whether the U.S. should retain the death penalty at all, given declining usage and growing concerns about wrongful convictions and humane methods.

Many online discussions frame this execution as a symbol of how divided the U.S. remains over capital punishment: some see it as necessary justice, others as a step backward for human rights.

TL;DR: The last death penalty carried out in the U.S. was the March 7, 2025 firing‑squad execution of Brad Sigmon in South Carolina.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.