A recent firing squad execution in South Carolina has sparked serious controversy after the legal team of the executed prisoner claimed that the procedure was botched, causing the man excruciating pain before his death.
The lawyers of Mikal Mahdi, who was executed on April 11, submitted a report to the South Carolina Supreme Court stating that Mahdi suffered for up to a minute while conscious, because the shooters missed his heart—something they say should have been an easy target.
What Went Wrong in the Execution?
In the official “Notice of Botched Execution”, Mahdi’s lawyers explain that the shooters fired only two bullets instead of three, which is against protocol. The bullets were also fired too low, striking organs like the liver, pancreas, and even his spine, before hitting the heart only partially.
An autopsy report by Dr. Jonathan Arden, who was hired by the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), revealed shocking details. He said the bullet wounds were placed just above the abdomen, not over the heart as required.
The bullets travelled downward and to the right, damaging multiple internal organs before making two partial holes in Mahdi’s heart. The rest of the heart remained mostly intact, which likely caused Mahdi to remain conscious and in severe pain before dying.
Lawyers: Execution Caused “Conscious Pain and Suffering”
Mahdi’s lawyers say the firing squad completely failed in its most basic responsibility — to cause a quick and painless death. They stated:
“Mr. Mahdi elected the firing squad, and this Court sanctioned it, based on the assumption that SCDC could be entrusted to carry out its straightforward steps: locating the heart; placing a target over it; and hitting that target. That confidence was clearly misplaced.”
They have also filed this report as a warning for other death row inmates who might consider choosing the firing squad as their method of execution, saying that the system cannot be trusted to carry it out correctly.
Background: Who Was Mikal Mahdi?
Mahdi was convicted and sentenced to death for his role in a 2004 multistate crime spree involving three murders, two of which he was found guilty of in court. After spending years on death row, he chose the firing squad — one of the few legal execution methods available in South Carolina — over other options like electrocution or lethal injection.
Fallout and Legal Questions
The report, filed after Bryan Stirling, the state’s former Department of Corrections director, stepped down in April, puts serious pressure on the state to review its execution procedures. The legal team has made it clear that they believe other prisoners should be aware of the risks associated with this method.
They emphasized that Mahdi’s suffering was not just a tragic mistake — but a failure of the entire system to carry out a process that is supposed to be as humane as possible, even in the case of a death sentence.
The execution of Mikal Mahdi has now raised deep concerns about the firing squad as a legal execution method. What was expected to be a precise and controlled procedure ended up causing immense pain and violating the basic promise of a quick death. His lawyers have taken the step of warning others and demanding that the system be held accountable for this failure. The report may prompt a broader review of capital punishment practices in the state.
