Overview

• Mikal Mahdi, 42, was executed by firing squad at Broad River Correctional Institute on April 11, 2025, for the murders of an off-duty police officer and a convenience store clerk in 2004.
• This marks South Carolina's second firing squad execution in five weeks, following Brad Sigmon’s execution in March, as the state resumes capital punishment after a 13-year hiatus.
• Mahdi chose the firing squad over lethal injection or the electric chair, citing it as the 'lesser of three evils' among the state’s execution methods.
• His final appeals, which argued systemic failures in his trial and highlighted his abusive childhood and solitary confinement as a teen, were rejected by both state and federal courts.
• Critics, including Mahdi’s attorney, condemned the execution as inhumane and indicative of broader flaws in the justice system, while South Carolina continues to face scrutiny over its capital punishment practices.