Mahdi
COLUMBIA, S.C. - On April 11, 2025, the State of South Carolina executed Mikal Mahdi by firing squad – just the second time in the state’s history of using this new method. According to Mahndi's attorneys, autopsy records indicate that the execution "was botched and went terribly wrong." They said it appears that only two bullets struck him, and both largely missed his heart. Mahdi appeared to remain conscious and cried out in agony after he was shot.
Here's what the attorneys had to say:
"The autopsy report commissioned by the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) shows only two entrance wounds just above Mikal’s abdomen. It also documents two pathways carved by the bullets through Mikal’s liver and pancreas but largely bypassing his heart. As a result—and as evidenced by his cries—Mikal’s heart continued to beat well after he was shot, keeping him conscious and in torment. Concerningly, the autopsy provided by the state was incredibly sparse, with far fewer details and photographs than normally issued.
Condemned prisoners in South Carolina are executed by the electric chair unless they elect lethal injection or firing squad. The four men South Carolina executed by lethal injection since September all lingered on the gurney for more than twenty minutes and required twice the single dose of drugs that SCDC certified was sufficient. In upholding the firing squad last July, the Supreme Court of South Carolina accepted and relied upon SCDC’s representations that it provided a straightforward and humane method of execution."
In a new filing this morning, the legal team for Mahdi has notified the South Carolina Supreme Court of this information.
“The autopsy confirms what I saw and heard,” said David Weiss, attorney for Mikal Mahdi, who witnessed Mr. Mahdi’s execution. "Mikal suffered an excruciating death. We don’t know what went wrong, but nothing about his execution was humane. The implications are horrifying for anyone facing the same choice as Mikal. South Carolina’s refusal to acknowledge their failures with executions cannot continue.”