SC representatives say firing squad execution was ‘botched’: letter

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – Representatives in South Carolina have filed a letter to state leaders saying Mikal Mahdi’s execution was, in their words, botched.

Representative Neal Collins (R – Pickens) and Representative Justin Bamberg (D – Bamberg) filed the letter on Monday.

“What this is about is, making sure that when we do execute as a state, people, that we do it in a way that is humane,” Collins said.

Mahdi was executed by firing squad last month for murdering a police officer over 20 years ago.

Collins and Bamberg said there were several things in the autopsy report that raised concerns.
Collins added that the letter will raise awareness of an execution he said that did not go as planned.

“We need to have oversight and accountability, and situations where things happen, where the unfortunate things happen, that we need to study,” Collins said.

On the other hand, a spokesman for Governor Henry McMaster, Brandon Charochak, said, “The governor has high confidence in the leadership of the Department of Corrections. He believes the sentence of death for Mr. Mahdi was properly and lawfully carried out.”

Chrysti Shain, from the South Carolina Department of Corrections, said all three bullets hit Mahdi’s heart, and he took his final breath at 75 seconds.

“The bullets struck Mahdi in the heart, per the autopsy report. They did not miss,” said Shain. “The autopsy report shows no exit wounds. The same firm conducted the autopsy as in previous executions.”

Mahdi’s lawyers filed documents with the South Carolina Supreme Court with their concerns on what they called “the mishandled execution.”