Southeast
Convicted double murderer executed by firing squad in South Carolina
A South Carolina man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat in 2001 was executed by firing squad early Friday evening – a method used for the first time in 15 years in the U.S.
Brad Sigmon, 67, was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. after being shot by three volunteer prison employees at 6:05 p.m. inside the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, according to the Associated Press.
Sigmon, who previously admitted to killing the couple because his ex-girlfriend refused to get back to him, was blindfolded and strapped to a chair with a target on his chest.
Brad Sigmon was convicted of beating to death his estranged girlfriend’s parents in Greenville County in 2001. (South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP)
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The executioners, armed with rifles about 15 feet away, fired bullets into his heart.
The volunteers all fired at the same time through openings in a wall, according to the AP. A dozen witnesses, seated in a room separated from the chamber by bullet-resistant glass, could not see the executioners.
Just a few hours before the death sentence, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency motion to suspend the execution because of South Carolina’s policies surrounding secretive lethal injection details.
Gov. Henry McMaster denied clemency on Friday prior to the execution. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson signed off on the action, despite pleas from his lawyers to commute the death sentence to life in prison.
Sigmon’s attorneys argued he was a model prisoner and the killings occurred while he was struggling with severe mental illness.
He chose to die by firing squad, citing fears about the electric chair and lethal injection, according to his representation.
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The South Carolina Department of Corrections said the double murderer’s “specifically requested” last meal was served on Wednesday night and included: four pieces of fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, biscuits, cheesecake and sweet tea.
However, his attorney, Gerald “Bo” King, said Sigmon requested three buckets of Original Recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken so “he could feed the men locked up with him,” but “that request was denied,” USA Today reported.
Sigmon’s last meal differed from what his attorney said he requested.
Sigmon admitted to killing victims Gladys Larke, 59, and David Larke, 62, on April 27, 2001, after they evicted him from a trailer they owned.
He then unsuccessfully kidnapped his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Armstrong, who jumped out of his moving car as he shot at her, prosecutors said.
“My intention was to kill her and then myself,” Sigmon said in a confession typed out by a detective after his arrest. “That was my intention all along. If I couldn’t have her, I wasn’t going to let anybody else have her. And I knew it got to the point where I couldn’t have her.”
He was sentenced to death in 2002.
Firing squad graphic (AP)
Armstrong told USA Today this week Sigmon “should answer for what he’s done,” noting his actions ripped her family apart.
The murdered parents of five missed the births of multiple grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Armstrong, who reportedly doesn’t believe in the death penalty, said she would not attend the execution.
This photo provided by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows the state’s death chamber in Columbia, S.C., including the electric chair, right, and a firing squad chair, left. (South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP)
Her son, Ricky Sims, told the Greenville News he would be there, wearing a pair of boots that were the last gift his grandparents ever gave him.
“He’s going to pay for what he’s done,” Sims told the outlet. “He took away two people who would have done anything for their family. They were the rock of our family … They didn’t deserve it.”
According to the Department of Corrections, witnesses to the execution included: Three members of the Larke family; a representative from the prosecuting solicitor’s office; a representative from the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office; Sigmon’s attorney; Sigmon’s spiritual advisor; and three members of the news media.
The chair in which John Albert Taylor was strapped into before being executed by a firing squad on Jan. 26, 1996, in Utah. (Lee Celano/Reuters)
In his last statement, which was read to witnesses by his attorney prior to his death, he spoke against the death penalty:
“I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty. An eye for an eye was used as justification to the jury for seeking the death penalty. At that time, I was too ignorant to know how wrong that was. Why? Because we no longer live under the Old Testament law but now live under the New Testament. Matthew 5:38-39 says “You have heard that it has been said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ but I say unto you that you do not resist an evil person. Whosoever shall smite me on the right cheek, turn to him the other one as well.” Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are no longer under the law but under grace.” Nowhere does God in the New Testament give man the authority to kill another man. That is why the Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. Remember the words of Jesus, John 7:19, “Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keep with the law.” We are now under God’s grace and mercy.”
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Executions in South Carolina resumed in September, when the state – once one of the leaders in executions – ended a 13-year halt in administering the death penalty.
It is one of just five states that authorize the use of firing squads in certain circumstances.
Only three inmates, all in Utah, have been killed by firing squad in the U.S. since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Ronnie Gardner was the last prisoner to be executed by firing squad in 2010.
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Twenty-five executions were carried out in the U.S. last year. Five have already been carried out in 2025, per the Death Penalty Information Center.
King did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work
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FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant who reported to a U.S. Border Patrol site in Florida to perform some Information technology contractual work was arrested when authorities were made aware of his citizenship status, officials said.
Angel Camacho, a Venezuelan citizen, reported to a USBP center in Dania Beach, Florida, Jan. 6 to do some IT work when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials began vetting him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital.
During its investigation, it was revealed Camacho was in violation of U.S. immigration laws, authorities said.
Angel Camacho reported to a Florida U.S. Border Patrol center to perform contractual work when he was arrested, a Department of Homeland Security official said. (Getty Images )
“CBP vets all external visitors before allowing them to enter secure facilities to ensure safety and operational integrity,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“During the vetting process, CBP uncovered this individual was a tourist visa overstay in the country for over five years.”
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This photo shows a U.S. Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 15, 2019. (Suzanne CordeiroAFP via Getty Images)
Camacho was arrested and transferred to ICE custody, Bis said.
His criminal history includes theft and resisting a Florida Highway Patrol officer, officials said. Federal authorities have nabbed several illegal immigrants in the process of trying to obtain employment in law enforcement and education.
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One Sierra Leone citizen was recently arrested as he was training to become a Pennsylvania corrections officer.
Another illegal immigrant, Ian Roberts, served as the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest district, Des Moines Public Schools, before he was arrested by ICE.
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Southeast
High school teacher arrested in alleged sex case involving student
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A Georgia high school teacher was arrested Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a minor student surfaced at Lee County High School.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).
Lee County High School requested the Leesburg Police Department investigate the allegations on Feb. 3, and the GBI was called to assist the following day.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, Ga., is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators identified Weaver as the “subject,” and identified the victim as a student under 18 years old at Lee County High School, according to officials.
GBI agents continued the investigation along with the Leesburg Police Department, and arrest warrants were obtained for Weaver on Tuesday.
A Google Maps street view photo of Lee County High School in Leesburg, Ga. (Google Maps)
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Weaver turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, and was later released on bond, according to a report from WALB News.
This investigation is active and ongoing, according to the GBI.
The incident allegedly happened at a high school in Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Once complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Leesburg is located in South Georgia, and is about an hour and a half north of Tallahassee, Florida.
Lee County High School’s communications team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Southeast
Federal court clears way for Ten Commandments to be displayed in Louisiana public school classrooms
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A federal appeals court cleared the way Friday for a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, lifting a lower court block and reigniting debate over religion in public education.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit voted 12-6 to lift a block first imposed in 2024, finding it was too early to determine the constitutionality of the law. Critics argue the requirement violates the separation of church and state, while supporters say the Ten Commandments are historical and foundational to U.S. law.
The court said in the majority opinion that it was unclear how schools would display the poster-sized materials, noting that the law allows additional content, like the Mayflower Compact or the Declaration of Independence, to appear alongside the Ten Commandments.
The majority wrote that there were not enough facts to “permit judicial judgment rather than speculation” when evaluating potential First Amendment concerns.
A federal appeals court on Friday lifted a lower court block on Louisiana’s Ten Commandments classroom law, bringing the measure closer to taking effect. (John Bazemore/AP)
In a concurring opinion, Circuit Judge James Ho, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote that the law was constitutional and “consistent with our founding traditions.”
“It is fully consistent with the Constitution, and what’s more, it reinforces our Founders’ firm belief that the children of America should be educated about the religious foundations and traditions of our country,” Ho said, adding that the law “affirms our Nation’s highest and most noble traditions.”
Circuit Judge James L. Dennis, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, wrote in a dissenting opinion that displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms would amount to “exposing children to government‑endorsed religion in a setting of compulsory attendance.”
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A federal appeals court ruling on Feb. 20 allows Louisiana’s Ten Commandments classroom mandate to proceed for now. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
“That is precisely the kind of establishment the Framers anticipated and sought to prevent,” he added.
The ACLU of Louisiana and other groups representing the plaintiffs said they would pursue additional legal challenges to block the law.
“Today’s ruling is extremely disappointing and would unnecessarily force Louisiana’s public school families into a game of constitutional whack-a-mole in every school district,” the groups wrote in a joint-statement. “Longstanding judicial precedent makes clear that our clients need not submit to the very harms they are seeking to prevent before taking legal action to protect their rights.”
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Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry praised the appeals court decision on Feb. 20 allowing the Ten Commandments classroom law to move forward. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, file)
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Friday praised the court’s decision, writing on Facebook, “Common sense is making a comeback!”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill issued a statement following the ruling, saying schools “should follow the law.”
“Don’t kill or steal shouldn’t be controversial. My office has issued clear guidance to our public schools on how to comply with the law, and we have created multiple examples of posters demonstrating how it can be applied constitutionally,” she said.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said schools should follow the Ten Commandments display law after a federal appeals court lifted a lower court block on Feb. 20. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Joseph Davis, an attorney representing Louisiana in the case, celebrated the court’s decision.
“If the ACLU had its way, every trace of religion would be scrubbed from the fabric of our public life,” he said in a statement. “That position is at odds with our nation’s traditions and our Constitution. We’re glad the Fifth Circuit has allowed Louisiana to display the Ten Commandments in its public school classrooms.”
Friday’s ruling came after the full court agreed to reconsider the case, months after a three-judge panel ruled the Louisiana law unconstitutional.
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A similar law in Arkansas faces a federal court challenge, while Texas implemented its own Ten Commandments classroom requirement last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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