A prisoner on death row, convicted of killing a police officer, became the second individual in 15 years to be executed by firing squad.
In July 2004, then 21-year-old Mikal Mahdi embarked on a spree of violence in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This involved the murder of 29-year-old convenience store clerk Christopher Jason Boggs during a botched robbery.
Two days after this incident, Mahdi committed a carjacking in Columbia, South Carolina, and subsequently drove to a farm situated in Calhoun County. There, he encountered 56-year-old off-duty police officer James Myers.
Mahdi shot Myers up to eight times, including twice in the head, before soaking his body in diesel in an attempt to set him on fire.
Mahdi faced execution at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia on Friday, April 11. He opted for death by firing squad, and the execution reportedly proceeded without any issues.
In South Carolina, death row inmates have the option to choose between lethal injection, the electric chair, or the firing squad. Mahdi selected the firing squad, which is an uncommon choice.
Since 1976, only five executions by firing squad have occurred in the United States, with the other four taking place in Utah.
“Faced with barbaric and inhumane choices, Mikal Mahdi has chosen the lesser of three evils,” attorney David Weiss stated, according to AP.
“Mikal chose the firing squad instead of being burned and mutilated in the electric chair, or suffering a lingering death on the lethal injection gurney.”
Prior to his execution, Mahdi’s attorney released a statement reflecting on his client’s upbringing and the circumstances leading to his criminal actions.
“Between the ages of 14 and 21, Mikal spent over 80 percent of his life incarcerated and lived through 8,000 hours in solitary confinement,” he explained.
“Now 42, Mikal is deeply remorseful and a dramatically different person from the confused, angry, and abused youth who committed the capital crimes.”
Another recent execution by firing squad occurred in the United States.
Brad Sigmon faced death row in 2001 after being convicted for the double murder of his ex-girlfriend Rebecca Barbre’s parents in South Carolina.
According to CBS, Sigmon, aged 67, bludgeoned her parents to death with a baseball bat at their residence in Greenville County. He subsequently abducted Rebecca at gunpoint, but she managed to escape from his vehicle as he attempted to shoot her, missing in the process.
Sigmon received a 30-year sentence for first-degree burglary, alongside two death sentences.
His execution took place on March 7 this year.