State opposes death row inmate’s request to delay execution

COLUMBIA, S.C. (FOX Carolina) — In a return filed Monday, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office urged the state Supreme Court to deny Steven Vernon Bixby’s request to delay his execution until after the holidays.

Bixby is currently on death row after being convicted in 2007 of the killings of State Constable Donnie Ouzts and Sgt. Danny Wilson with the Abbeville County Sheriff’s Office during a standoff in 2003.

In Bixby’s petition, he cited a previous stay of execution granted to a death row inmate in 2024, whose execution date would have fallen around Thanksgiving or Christmas.

However, in the return, the State argued that the previous schedule change was not due to the holidays, but rather a logistical circumstance after South Carolina amended its execution statutes and resumed executions following a 13-year pause.

The State also argued that Bixby’s current stay was only put in place to litigate his competency to be executed. Circuit Judge R. Scott Sprouse already held a hearing and ruled Bixby competent, according to the document.

Read the full return below:

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