South Carolina executed Mikal Deen Mahdi by firing squad on April 11, 2025, nearly twenty-one years after the violent crime spree that culminated in the murder of off-duty Orangeburg Public Safety Captain James Myers. Mahdi, 42, was pronounced dead at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia after choosing execution by firing squad over lethal injection and electrocution, making him only the fifth person executed by firing squad in the United States since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 and the second in South Carolina in 2025.
According to court records, Mahdi’s crimes took place during a multistate spree in July 2004. Authorities said the violence began in Virginia, where Mahdi killed a man during a drug-related encounter, before continuing into North Carolina, where he robbed and murdered 29-year-old convenience store clerk Christopher Jason Boggs. Days later, Mahdi traveled to South Carolina after committing additional crimes, including carjacking. Investigators determined that he eventually arrived at the rural Calhoun County property of Captain James Myers, a 56-year-old off-duty public safety officer.
Prosecutors said Myers returned home and discovered Mahdi hiding on his property. During the confrontation, Mahdi shot Myers at least eight times, with some reports stating the victim was struck nine times. Authorities further stated that Mahdi then poured diesel fuel on Myers’ body and set it on fire before stealing the officer’s truck and fleeing the scene. The murder shocked South Carolina because of its brutality and because Myers was a respected law enforcement officer and community member.
Mahdi was captured in Florida on July 21, 2004, and later extradited to South Carolina. He ultimately pleaded guilty to Myers’ murder and received a death sentence in 2006. In a separate case, he was sentenced to life without parole in North Carolina for the murder of Christopher Jason Boggs. Over the following years, Mahdi pursued numerous appeals challenging both his conviction and death sentence, with attorneys arguing that severe childhood abuse, trauma, and mental health issues should have been considered more heavily during sentencing. State and federal courts repeatedly rejected those claims.
As his execution date approached, Mahdi selected the firing squad as his method of execution. His attorneys stated that he viewed it as the “least of three evils,” preferring it over electrocution or lethal injection
because he feared those methods could result in prolonged suffering. On the evening of April 11, 2025, Mahdi was strapped into the execution chair while three prison employees carried out the firing squad procedure. Witnesses reported that he did not make a final statement before the shots were fired. Prison officials later confirmed that he had requested a final meal consisting of ribeye steak, mushroom risotto, broccoli, collard greens, cheesecake, and sweet tea.
The execution drew widespread attention because of the rarity of firing squad executions in the United States and because of subsequent debate over the procedure itself. Media witnesses reported that Mahdi cried out and continued showing signs of movement for a period after the shots were fired. Later reports discussing autopsy findings raised questions about whether all shots struck the intended target area, though state officials disputed allegations that the execution had been improperly carried out. The controversy reignited national discussion over execution methods and the future of capital punishment in the United States.
Mahdi’s execution marked another chapter in South Carolina’s renewed use of the death penalty after a lengthy pause caused by difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs. Supporters of the execution argued it delivered justice for Captain James Myers and the other victims connected to Mahdi’s crime spree, while opponents pointed to the execution’s circumstances as evidence of continuing concerns surrounding capital punishment and the methods used to carry it out.
