Mikal Mahdi was the second man in South Carolina to be executed by a three-person firing squad on April 11, after admitting to killing an off-duty police officer in 2004.

Mikal Mahdi was killed last month by prison officials, but autopsy results indicated that executioners did not follow protocol and Mahdi endured prolonged pain.

A pathologist hired by attorneys for death row inmates says a South Carolina man executed by firing squad was conscious and likely in extreme pain for as long as a minute. The autopsy results for Mikal Mahdi show the bullets meant to quickly stop his heart struck him lower than expected.