Death row inmate who killed South Carolina police officer to die by firing squad

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTV) - Mikal Mahdi, a death row inmate convicted of murdering a South Carolina police officer over 20 years ago, has made a definitive choice regarding his execution method. According to reports, Mahdi opted for death by firing squad, a decision he reached before the March 28 deadline set by state law. This choice follows the execution of another inmate, Brad Sigmon, by the same method just three weeks earlier.

In South Carolina, the available execution methods include lethal injection, electric chair, and firing squad. Mahdi's lawyer, David Weiss, expressed that Mahdi selected the firing squad as "the lesser of three evils," citing the cruel nature of the electric chair and the potential for a protracted death via lethal injection.

Mahdi was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing Officer James Myers in July 2004; the officer was found shot multiple times and burned in a shed shortly after returning home from a trip. Mahdi's execution is scheduled for April 11, and he was required to submit his preferred method 14 days before that date.

Should the execution proceed, Mahdi will be restrained in a chair with a hood over his head while a target is placed over his heart. A three-person firing squad will then simultaneously fire shots from a distance of 15 feet, after which a doctor will declare him dead. The execution will take place at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, where Mahdi is currently incarcerated.

If carried out as planned, Mahdi will become the fifth South Carolina inmate executed in just seven months, following Sigmon's death. Notably, the use of firing squads has been rare in the U.S., with only three inmates executed by this method since 1976, all in Utah, the last occurring in 2010.