SC Supreme Court denies death row inmate’s appeal of incompetence

COLUMBIA — The state’s highest court turned down a last-ditch effort Wednesday for a death row inmate to avoid execution.

The one-line order could open the door for Steven Bixby to receive a death warrant as soon as Friday. The last execution the state carried out took place in November 2025.

Death row inmate convicted of killing 2 cops is competent for execution, SC judge says

Bixby’s attorneys could attempt to appeal the decision at the federal level. Whether they will do so is unclear. Bixby’s lead attorney did not immediately respond to a call requesting comment.

Bixby, who was convicted in 2007 of gunning down two police officers during a 13-hour standoff in his parents’ Abbeville house, ran out of normal appeals before the state resumed executions in September 2024.

Initially among five inmates slated for back-to-back executions, Bixby’s attorneys asked for a pause in his case, arguing he wasn’t competent to face the death chamber.

Bixby, 59, maintained during a two-day hearing in August 2025 that he did nothing wrong and a judge might still overturn his death sentence. He also told his attorneys he saw an angel at the crime scene, found special significance in numbers and believes most laws are unconstitutional, according to court filings.

Inmates must have a grasp on reality and the ability to communicate with lawyers to face the death chamber, the state Supreme Court has previously ruled.

Bixby met those benchmarks, even though his beliefs were sometimes atypical, making him competent for execution, a circuit court judge ruled last year.

Delusions or political opinions? SC judge to decide if inmate is competent for execution

Bixby’s attorneys then asked the state Supreme Court to weigh in, arguing the judge put too much belief in the state’s experts and didn’t address the full incompetence claim.

The court denied the appeal Wednesday.

If he received a death warrant, Bixby would be the eighth man executed since the state resumed the process in September 2024, following an unintended 13-year hiatus.

He’s one of 21 people on South Carolina’s death row. One inmate who received a death warrant in South Carolina is housed in California for crimes committed there.

One other inmate, Gary Terry, is also awaiting a decision from the court as to whether he is competent for execution.