Photo Courtesy: Office of Federal Public Defenders By JEFFREY COLLINS Updated 8:19 PM EDT, April 11, 2025 COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A firing squad on Friday executed a South Carolina man who killed an off-duty police officer, the second time the rare execution method has been used by the state in the past five weeks. Mikal Mahdi gave no final statement…
Mikal Mahdi, who pleaded guilty to murder for killing a police officer in 2004, is scheduled to be executed April 11.
“Removing one life to punish them for taking someone else’s does nothing to restore the fabric of humanity, it only increases the damage,” says Rev. Bryan Pigford of Cokesbury United Methodist Church in Charleston.
Lawyers for four death row inmates who have run out of appeals are expected to argue to the South Carolina Supreme Court that the state’s old electric chair and new firing squad are cruel and unusual punishments.
A South Carolina judge rules death by firing squad is unconstitutional
The South Carolina Supreme Court has put another execution on hold, two days after temporarily blocking plans for a rare firing squad execution.
Officials say Brad Keith Sigmon’s execution date is set for May 13.
A South Carolina prisoner scheduled for execution later this month has chosen to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair. His attorneys have asked the state Supreme Court to halt the execution while another court considers whether the state’s capital punishment methods are constitutional.
The state of South Carolina has scheduled its first execution after prison officials indicated they are ready to conduct executions by firing squad.
The South Carolina Department of Corrections says it can now carry out executions by firing squad.
