Posted on 04/12/2025 3:20:08 AM PDT by Libloather
A convicted cop killer who became the second death row inmate in South Carolina to die by firing squad chomped on a ribeye steak, mushroom risotto, broccoli, collard greens and cheesecake before he was executed on Friday night.
Mikal Mahdi, 42, had three slugs fired into his heart by trained correctional volunteers at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia and was pronounced dead at 6:05 p.m. for the ambush killing of Orangeburg Public Safety Captain James Myers in 2004.
Mahdi, who washed down his hearty last meal with a sweet tea, did not make a final statement before his execution, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
Mahdi was then hooded and strapped to a metal chair that sat on top of a catch basin inside the prison’s death chamber with a white target and red bullseye placed over his chest.
Three members from the state’s corrections department stood behind a wall 15 feet away and simultaneously opened fire through openings in the partition at 6:01 p.m. Each shooter fired one round, with Mahdi flexing his arms and crying out as the bullets struck him.
The bullseye was also pushed into the wound in his chest.
Mahdi continued to groan and take deep breaths for about two minutes before taking one final gasp – with a doctor affirming his death four minutes after the shots rang out.
Nine witnesses were seated in a room separated from the chamber by bulletproof glass.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
If he had only lived a few more weeks, he might have found a cure for cancer.
How, just how could anyone enjoy a choice meal before meeting a firing squad? This guy had to be totally out of his mind.
And I do not necessarily favor the firing squad targeting the heart. The brain and brain stem would be targets giving a quicker kill.
Ping
Perhaps they shoot for the heart instead of the brain so they can have an open casket?
Not saying I agree or disagree, but it seems plausible.
Anyone know what they were using? 30-06, maybe?
I would have preferred an all you can eat buffet....
Certain death and finality is a ton less stressful than the American legal system stretching out a failed cause for 10 to 35 years. They also tend to pump the soon to die full of psychotropics and it becomes taking grandma out for a nice meal.
There have been death row inmates who left things to eat later, told people they will talk to them later. As a good number of these people lived as solders in street gangs, the assumption is there is nothing the state can do to them that their friends or enemies could not be planning for them tomorrow.
I wonder how much they paid for the ribeye? The 20 oz boned in rib eye at Longhorn is about $30. On a special dinner night I paid $65 at Judith Christs.
No broccoli and collard greens in my final meal!
Yeah, while the suffering is deserved, in a sense, the Nork’s method of instant obliteration is more humane...
Waste of a meal when we have homeless.....we should have stood his victim’s family to a 4 star catered feast followed by a front seat at the shooting.
If one or more family wanted some trigger time, have at it.
...and offered up his ears or full head for mounting.
Never eat less than an hour before going to a fire squad.
LOL. It's bad for your heart.
And all that red meat and cholesterol could kill you.
This looks like winner for the SC taxpayers. This must be less expensive than the electric chair and other methods (injections) that bring lawsuits and controversy. So let him have his gourmet final meal. He earned it by choosing the firing squad.
Did I interpret that correctly, the squad fired on at a time opposite three shots at once?
After the man who murdered my best friend was imprisoned in the fall, a few months later I read in our local paper that NC inmates were treated to ribeye dinner for Christmas.
Not long after, that ‘luxury’ ended.
Not saying that inmates shouldn’t be treated with respect but luxuries are EARNED by humanity and murdering, stealing or beating people doesn’t qualify.
I don’t think inmates should get a last meal - there should be a set menu they can choose from to include KFC, McDonalds , Pizza Hut or the regular prison menu. They can get that ‘last meal’ in Hell.
“And I do not necessarily favor the firing squad targeting the heart. The brain and brain stem would be targets giving a quicker kill.”
I think they should take rounds to all four limbs before the kill shot(s).
How many cop killers are on death row right now? I’ll spring for the first 10 meals if the execution is gonna be carried out later this week instead of 20 years from now...
That is true, but I have absolutely no problem with dragging it out a bit in such cases.
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