Inmate Sparks Ethical Concerns While Choosing His Execution Method

Empty hallway between rows of prison cells.

South Carolina death row inmate Mikal Mahdi has chosen execution by firing squad over lethal injection or electric chair, marking only the second such execution in the state and raising profound questions about what constitutes humane capital punishment in America.

Key Insights

Mikal Mahdi, scheduled for execution on April 11, chose firing squad as the “lesser of three evils” compared to lethal injection or electric chair.
Mahdi was convicted of murdering police officer James Myers in 2004, shooting him multiple times and setting his body on fire.
This execution follows Brad Sigmon’s March 2025 firing squad execution, the first in the U.S. in 15 years.
South Carolina has executed four inmates in the past seven months, with no clemency granted in the state since 1976.
Mahdi’s final appeal challenges the adequacy of his original defense, which his lawyers claim was extremely brief and superficial.

The Crime and Conviction

Mikal Mahdi’s crime spree in July 2004 included stealing a gun and car, killing a store clerk, and carjacking before ambushing public safety officer James Myers in Orangeburg, South Carolina, on July 18. Court records show Mahdi shot Myers multiple times, then set his body on fire. Authorities captured Mahdi on July 21 in Florida following an extensive manhunt. He later pleaded guilty to the murder and received the death sentence that he is now scheduled to fulfill on April 11, 2025, becoming the second inmate in South Carolina to face a firing squad in modern times.

The scheduled execution comes just weeks after Brad Sigmon became the first person in the United States executed by firing squad in 15 years. Before Sigmon, only three inmates had been executed by this method nationally since 1976, all in Utah. South Carolina reinstated the firing squad option in 2021 after struggling to obtain lethal injection drugs, providing inmates with three choices: lethal injection, electric chair, or firing squad. This policy change has fundamentally altered how capital punishment operates in the state.

Choosing a Method of Death

Mahdi’s decision to choose the firing squad has been characterized by his attorney, David Weiss, as selecting “the lesser of three evils.” The stark choice faced by death row inmates raises profound ethical questions about the nature of humane execution and whether any method can truly be considered civilized. South Carolina’s execution protocol dictates that three prison employees who have volunteered for the duty will form the firing squad, using rifles loaded with live ammunition to carry out the sentence.

For the execution, Mahdi will be strapped into a chair with a hood placed over his head and a target positioned over his heart. The three volunteer prison employees will fire simultaneously from behind a wall with rectangular openings. One rifle is typically loaded with a blank round, allowing each shooter to maintain the possibility that they did not fire a fatal shot—a psychological mechanism designed to distribute the moral burden of execution.

Legal Challenges and Final Appeals

Mahdi’s legal team has filed a final appeal, arguing that he received inadequate defense during his original trial. His lawyers have described his defense presentation as so brief that it “didn’t even span the length of a Law & Order episode, and was just as superficial.” They further cite Mahdi’s traumatic childhood experiences and lengthy periods in solitary confinement as factors that have affected his judgment. State prosecutors have countered these claims, highlighting Mahdi’s violent criminal history as justification for the death sentence.

While Mahdi technically has a final opportunity to seek clemency from Governor Henry McMaster, historical precedent suggests this path offers little hope. No South Carolina governor has granted clemency to a death row inmate since 1976 when the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment. This leaves the ongoing court appeal as Mahdi’s primary chance to avoid becoming the fourth person executed in South Carolina in the past seven months, and only the fifth person executed by firing squad in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated.