The prisoner was sitting in a chair, restrained with a target over his heart.
Three prison employees stood fifteen feet away, armed with rifles and able to take their time aiming.
Death by firing squad was supposed to result in a relatively painless execution for Mikal Mahdi, one of the three methods offered by South Carolina. However, Mahdi's attorneys claim his demise on April 11, 2025, was anything but a peaceful passing.
Describing the process as "botched," they cite an autopsy report that says two of the three shots taken largely missed his heart, leaving Mahdi in agonizing pain for over a minute before he died. They're questioning what happened to the third bullet, dismissing the state's contention that two bullets took the exact same path through the body.
Mahdi's attorneys said they went public with their findings with permission from their client obtained before his death. Were Mahdi's Eighth Amendment protections violated, and should this method of execution be reconsidered?
A Choice With No Good Options
By all accounts, Mahdi's life was one soaked in violence. While he received a life sentence for the 2004 murder of a convenience store clerk, it was the killing of an off-duty police officer that earned him the death penalty in South Carolina.
Mahdi lingered for years on Death Row as South Carolina lacked a valid legal method of execution. Death by lethal injection was permitted, but issues with obtaining the necessary drugs and questions about the amounts required combined with a federal moratorium to keep the state from carrying out any executions.
With the Trump administration encouraging the resumption of executions, Mahdi watched his time dwindle as his appeals were rejected. Once it was clear his sentence would be carried out, Mahdi was forced to choose between lethal injection, the electric chair, or a firing squad. He chose the latter.
South Carolina carried out its first execution by firing squad a little more than a month before Mahdi's, with Brad Sigmon expiring quickly after being struck by three shots to his chest. According to Mahdi's attorneys, that's not what happened to their client.
A Tough Shot
Witnesses present for Mahdi's execution stated that he appeared to keep breathing for about 80 seconds after being shot, groaning in pain twice at the 45-second mark. South Carolina contracted the same company for the autopsies of both executed felons. Sigmon's included multiple photographs of the damage done to his internal organs, where bullet fragments were found, and a picture showing three distinct entrance wounds in the vicinity of his heart.
By contrast, for Mahdi, only a single photo showing two apparent entry wounds in his lower chest was released. A pathologist hired by Medhi's attorneys determined that he was likely alive, unconscious, and in excruciating pain for up to a minute. The South Carolina Supreme Court had ruled in 2024 that a firing squad wasn't a cruel and unusual punishment because pain would last no longer than fifteen seconds.
Medhi's attorneys also expressed concern about the missing third shot. There was no evidence in the chamber that the shot had missed. States like Utah randomly give one of the shooters a blank so that those involved can never really be sure they performed a killing shot, but South Carolina gives all participants live rounds.
Too Late for One, but Not Others
The South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) insists that the execution was done properly and that two shots entered through the same wound. In presenting their conflicting evidence to the South Carolina Supreme Court, Mehdi's lawyers hope to demonstrate that the SCDC broke protocol and botched the execution.
With five executions since the resumption of the practice in September 2024 and 28 prisoners still on death row, South Carolina is likely far from done with the procedure. While nothing further can be done for Mehdi, his attorneys hope to at least reduce the suffering for those who follow.
Related Resources
- When Is an Autopsy Required? (FindLaw's Criminal Defense)
- Swift Decisions, Silent Explanations: Stays of Execution and the "Shadow Docket" (FindLaw's Federal Courts)
- Death Penalty Laws (FindLaw's Criminal Procedure)
