South Carolina inmate chooses to die by lethal injection amid concerns about firing squad

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina death row inmate Stephen Stanko on Friday chose to die by lethal injection after his lawyers said he was troubled by what appeared to be a lingering death of the last person in the state who was killed by a firing squad.

Stanko, who set to die June 13, had a choice among firing squad, lethal injection or the electric chair. His lawyers said in previous court filings he didn't want to suffer what he thought was cooking from thousands of volts of electricity.

Firing squad questions

They said he was leaning toward the firing squad before questions surfaced about whether Mikal Mahdi suffered agonizing pain for about 45 seconds — three times longer than expected — at his April 11 execution after the firing squad nearly missed his heart.

In reviewing autopsy reports, attorneys told him the state's lethal injection protocols appear to send a rush of fluid into the lungs that feels like drowning when a lethal dose of pentobarbital is put into the inmate's veins.

Stanko's lawyers had asked the South Carolina Supreme Court to delay his execution so they could get more information about the firing squad or further investigate any potential problems, but the justices refused their request Wednesday.

South Carolina's multiple executions

Stanko, 57, has been sentenced to death twice in the state for two separate murders — the killing of a friend and the killing of his girlfriend as he raped her daughter.

South Carolina restarted executions in September after obtaining pentobarbital used in lethal injections thanks to a new secrecy law. The state didn't execute a prisoner from 2011 to 2024 after its supply of lethal injection drugs expired and pharmacies refused to sell them more unless their identities could be kept secret.

The crimes

Stanko is being executed for killing his 74-year-old friend Henry Turner. Stanko went to Turner's home in April 2006 after lying about his father dying, and shot Turner twice while using a pillow as a silencer, authorities said.

Stanko stole Turner's truck, cleaned out his bank account and spent the next few days in Augusta, Georgia, where he told people in town for the Masters golf tournament that he owned several Hooters restaurants. He stayed with a woman who took him to church. She called police once after seeing his photo and learning that he was wanted, police said.

Hours before killing Turner, Stanko beat and strangled his girlfriend in her home and raped her daughter before slashing the teen's throat. The daughter survived and testified against him at one of his trials.

How the lethal injection will happen

During Stanko's execution, he will be strapped to a gurney with his arm outstretched. Medical workers will place an IV in his arm before the curtain is opened to the witness room.

His lawyer can read a final statement and then the execution will start with no announcement. It has typically taken about 20 minutes before a doctor comes in, checks the inmate and declares him dead.

Autopsies done on two of the three previous inmates killed by lethal injection in South Carolina in the past year have shown their lungs filled with massive amounts of fluid. Experts said that is what usually happens when someone is given a massive dose of pentobarbital.

Medical experts hired by the state said the drug knocks the inmate unconscious before they ever feel any other sensation or pain. Witnesses to the executions said inmates don't have any signs of consciousness after about 30 seconds.

Other experts hired by lawyers for the inmates said prisoners may still be able to feel and that the rush of fluid is like drowning.

One of the three inmates killed by lethal injection last year did not choose to have an autopsy for religious reasons.

Two doses of the drug

In the three most recent lethal injection deaths, prison officials have given two large doses of the sedative pentobarbital about 10 minutes apart.

Most other states and the federal government give just one dose of the drug but have a second on hand if needed.

Prison officials have not said why they are giving two doses or whether that is part of their normal procedures, citing a 2023 law that keeps secret the providers of lethal injection drugs, the identities of members of execution teams and the procedures used.