A South Carolina death row inmate endured a "prolonged death" after a firing squad failed to hit their intended targets, an investigation submitted to the South Carolina Supreme Court revealed.
On April 11, Mikal Mahdi, 42, was executed by a firing squad in South Carolina. He was strapped to a chair and had a red bullseye target placed over his heart "to do maximum damage," according to the Guardian. Autopsy documents, however, revealed Mahdi only had two bullet wounds and was never struck in the heart but rather his pancreas, liver and lower lung.
Mahdi cried out roughly 45 seconds after being shot, then groaned twice. A doctor declared him dead approximately four minutes after the shots were fired, far exceeding the expected "10-to-15 second" window of consciousness. Mahdi's lawyers argue the timeline proved the execution deviated from protocol and that he suffered unnecessary pain.
Two forensic pathologists who examined Mahdi's body stated they "expected the entrance wounds to be higher" and "did not expect to find such severe damage to the liver," Dr. Jonathan Arden, a pathologist retained by Mahdi's lawyers, revealed in his report, per the Guardian.
"If the procedure is done correctly, the heart will be disrupted, immediately eliminating all circulation," Arden wrote. When "the shooters missed the intended target area," Mahdi was conscious for up to a minute while his blood continued circulating. The forensic pathologist added that Mahdi suffered a "more prolonged death process than was expected had the execution been conducted successfully according to the protocol."
"Among the questions that remain: did one member of the execution team miss Mr Mahdi entirely? Did they not fire at all? How did the two who did shoot Mr Mahdi miss his heart?," Mahdi's attorneys wrote to the South Carolina Supreme Court. "Did they flinch or miss because of inadequate training? Or was the target on Mr Mahdi's chest misplaced? The current record provides no answers."
Originally published on Latin Times
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