Stephen Corey Bryant EXECUTED by Firing Squad | Crime, Last Meal + Final Words | Death Row US 

After spending 17 years on death row, Steven Bryant was executed by firing squad. But what crimes led him there and what happened during his final moments before execution? Let’s take a look. It all started on October 5th, 2004. Steven, just 23 years old at the time, needed money, and he was growing more desperate by the day.

 He spent his time roaming the rural back roads of Sumpter County, keeping an eye on the quiet homes tucked behind trees, the ones with long driveways and no neighbors nearby. Steven would walk up during the day claiming he was looking for someone or that his truck had broken down. He smiled, waved, and acted harmless. And it worked.

 Neighbors thought nothing of it. But Steven wasn’t lost. He was scouting. The day after visiting one house, he came back. But this time, there was no knock. He slipped inside, walked through the rooms, and ransacked the home office, grabbing whatever valuables he could carry before disappearing again. And he didn’t stop there. Not long after, Steven broke into another empty house.

 And this time, he cut the phone lines so nobody could call for help when the owners returned. Then he found a 40 caliber Smith and Wesson and a box of ammunition. And at this point, he wasn’t just stealing anymore. Each break-in was building towards something. He was gearing up, preparing for what was coming next. Just hours after stealing the gun, he went out to test it.

 Along a quiet riverbank, he spotted a man, 56-year-old Clinton Brown, who was fishing alone. Without any warning, Steven raised the gun and fired once, then ran. The bullet hit Clinton in the upper body, and against all odds, Clinton stayed conscious. Bleeding and stunned, he climbed into his truck and drove himself to the nearest hospital.

 Clinton survived. But for Steven, this was only the beginning. 4 days later, Steven met up with a longtime friend, 36-year-old Clifton Gayy. They had fished together, shared meals, and their families had spent weekends under the same roof. That night, they left to buy beer, laughing like they always did.

 And then somewhere between the jokes, Steven pulled the same stolen gun and shot Clifton in the head. His friend died instantly. Steven didn’t call for help. He didn’t stop to check if his friend was still breathing. He just stepped over the body, left it in the dirt on a lonely stretch of road and drove straight to Clifton’s rented trailer.

 Once inside, he took everything he could carry, electronics and aquarium, and whatever looked like it might be worth a few bucks. Then he struck a match. Flames tore through the trailer, burning up memories, photos, and the place where their families used to gather like nothing had ever mattered. But two days later, on October 11th, Steven struck again.

 This time, his target was 62-year-old Willard Tichin, a retired Air Force sergeant living in peace. Steven forced his way inside his home, shot him nine times, then tore through the home looking for anything valuable. While he was ransacking the house, the phone rang multiple times. On the other end of the line were TJ’s wife and daughter, desperate for answers.

Steven answered both calls. Calmly, he told each of them that TJ was dead. Before he walked out, he slipped a ring from TJ’s hand and burned his face with a cigarette. And then, as if daring the police to stop him, he dipped a finger into blood and smeared a message across the wall. “Victim four in two weeks.

Catch me if you can.” And just like that, the clock started ticking. The manhunt was on. From that moment, everything moved fast. Over the past days, investigators in Sumpter County worked around the clock, combing through every detail from the past two weeks. What stood out first was the pattern.

 Three attacks, all within a few miles of each other, all in less than two weeks. And the crime scenes weren’t random. The gunshot wounds were similar. The shell casings matched, and not a single sign of a struggle. The more detectives uncovered, the clearer it became. This wasn’t coincidence. It was a spree. One man moving fast, who was killing with precision and daring the police to stop him.

 And then came the break. Tips started flooding in from across the county. Sightings of a dark and worn 1990 GMC pickup spotted near more than one crime scene. One caller had even caught a part of the license plate. And when officers ran it through their system, it led straight to Steven, a man already known to the police for committing violent burglaries.

 The truck wasn’t just a match. It was the missing link. And it tied Steven to every single detail they had been piecing together. And then on October 13th, ballistic testing confirmed what the detectives already suspected. The same weapon had been used in all four shootings, and that match sealed the case. Steven Bryant was responsible for the killing spree.

 But by then it was too late because just hours earlier at around 4:30 a.m. Steven had met his last victim. 35-year-old Christopher Burgess was standing outside a small convenience store when Steven approached him. They spoke briefly before they left together. What exactly was said in those few minutes will never be known. But somewhere along the way, Steven pulled out the gun one more time and shot Christopher once in the chest and once in the head.