Death row inmate asks for a stay of execution until after holidays

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WHNS/Gray News) - A South Carolina death row inmate is petitioning to have his execution pushed back to after the holidays.

Steven Bixby was convicted in 2007 of killing State Constable Donnie Ouzts and Sergeant Danny Wilson of the Abbeville County Sheriff’s Office during a standoff in 2003.

Bixby and his parents were part of a land dispute with the state, which planned to take 20 feet of land from their property to widen a highway.

The dispute escalated into a standoff.

In a petition submitted to the South Carolina Supreme Court, Bixby is asking that the clerk of court not issue a notice of execution until after the winter holidays.

The petition cites a previous stay of execution granted to a death row inmate in 2024, whose execution date would have fallen near Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has not yet made a ruling on the petition.