"I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty," Brad Kieth Sigmon wrote ahead of his execution.

Brad Keith Sigmon called for an end to the death penalty before he was executed by firing squad in South Carolina on Friday. The death penalty is a legal form of criminal punishment in 27 states. Governors in California, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Ohio have currently placed executions on hold.

Brad Sigmon, who admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend's parents, said he chose to die by bullets because he considered the other choices offered by the state to be worse.