S.C. ramps up executions: The future of capital punishment in the Palmetto State

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Death penalty cases here in South Carolina have resumed over the last year after a 13-year hiatus, sparking conversations and debate around the act of taking a human life.

And with the state’s third execution of the year scheduled for Friday, what lies ahead for capital punishment cases in the Palmetto State?

“When it’s a death penalty case, there’s a phrase: death is different,” First Circuit Solicitor David Pasco says.

Sitting in a chair awaiting death or standing before a firing squad is the reality of what awaits 27 South Carolina inmates currently on death row. Over the last year, four people have been executed in the Palmetto State with the fifth scheduled for this Friday.

“I think that some people deserve the death penalty, but it doesn’t give me pleasure that we have to do it,” Pasco says. “It’s just a necessary evil.”

Until last year, South Carolina hadn’t carried out an execution in more than a decade due to a shortage of lethal injection drugs as pharmaceutical companies feared disclosure of their involvement.

“I think that there’s no such thing as a murder case in South Carolina that’s not death-eligible,” S.C. Chief Capital Defender Boyd Young says. “They could find an aggravator if they wanted to.”

And now with executions taking place once again, will prosecutors seek the death penalty in more cases? Live 5 Investigates asked every solicitor’s office in the state if they are currently prosecuting any capital cases.

Ten out of 16 responded with only one case confirmed and the possibility of another currently on the table.

Although there are no current capital cases in the First Circuit, Solicitor David Pascoe has successfully prosecuted two death row cases in his career.

“I don’t really take pleasure,” Pasco says. “I am pro-death penalty; I put two people on death row.”

One of those cases is Mikal Mahdi, who is scheduled for execution on Friday and is the second death row inmate in the state to choose the firing squad after being convicted of killing a police officer in 2004.

It was not until 2021 that state lawmakers approved the use of firing squads after a decade without any executions taking place.

Pasco was one of the larger advocates for the method of firing squads when executions were frozen, and says he searched for humane options.

“If there’s going to be an execution, it’s probably more humane to do it that way than the other two ways; it gives them another avenue to do it,” Pasco says.

You cannot undo death

Defense attorneys, along with prosecutors, must prove why someone proven guilty deserves to die for the crimes they committed, or why their life is worth saving.

“I understand that death penalty cases are not about efficiency; it is a human life at stake,” Young says. “Judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys want to make sure that every i is dotted, every t is crossed and everything is very carefully done so that they don’t have to do it again.”

The state’s Chief Capital Defender, Boyd Young, says there has been a slight uptick in death penalty cases going to trial after law changes in recent years. But he says if there is going to be an increase, there also needs to be more judges and additional court time.

“In every case when you have a defendant, and the same thing I tell jurors, is if you order the state to put this person to death, that’s what the state is going to do,” Young says.

Information about what goes on behind executions is now harder to obtain after Governor Henry McMaster signed a shield law in 2023 that “protects the identities of those involved in the planning or execution of a death sentence.”

“They decided the better route was secrecy, and that really has resulted in more problems, more questions, and unfortunately, more botched executions,” Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robin Maher says. “We know that increased secrecy only increases the chances that things are going to go terribly wrong.”

The cost of taking a life

Executions in 2025 are noticeably different compared to the late 90s and early 2000s, with inmates now spending sometimes decades on death row.

“These trials take many years, and many families have found that that length of time only increases their pain, their trauma,” Maher says.

Death penalty cases cost and last much longer than traditional trials. A 2022 Ohio study found capital cases cost between two and a half to five times more than a non-capital case, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Although no recent studies have been conducted in South Carolina on the price of death, Pasco says in his opinion, the cost barely has any impact on the prosecution.

“Justice just has no price,” Pasco says. “If that’s the sentence that the person deserves, and 12 citizens who sit on that jury think he or she deserves it, justice has no price. I don’t care what it costs.”

And not to mention the years-long appeal process where attorneys fight to save their clients’ lives.

“It’s incredibly important that we’re thoughtful and careful during the appeals process to make sure that there were no mistakes that need correcting, so that we don’t commit the ultimate injustice and execute someone who is innocent,” Maher says.

“I’ve seen death penalty cases come back from the 1990s on appeal,” Pasco says.

What’s next

Colleton County man Ryan Manigo is facing 21 charges following a deadly 2023 house fire that left six people, including his 11-year-old daughter, dead.

Although not yet confirmed since a trial date has not been scheduled, Young, with the capital trial division, is listed as one of the defense attorneys on the case, which means Manigo could be tried as a death penalty case.

“I think about the death penalty, I think about it’s the community’s response to a horrific event,” Young says. “It’s that community that makes this decision about whether or not this person lives or dies.”

Once an execution date is scheduled, the 27 inmates on death row will choose between the electric chair, lethal injection or firing squad before they take their last breath.

Every solicitor in the state was also asked to provide a comment or statement in response to the future handling of death penalty cases. Listed below are the responses Live 5 Investigates received:

Third Circuit Solicitor:

“The main factors we consider are the victim’s family and the impact on them with lengthy appeals and multiple court hearings, as well as the financial burden on the county to pay experts and security for the jury.”

Sixth Circuit Solicitor:

“We always consider whether the death penalty would be appropriate to seek in each qualifying murder case our office handles. The fact that executions have re-started does not and should not play into our decision making process- the decision should be made based on statutory factors as well as other factors described above.”

Eighth Circuit Solicitor:

“The fact that the State is actually carrying out the sentences now will likely result in the death penalty being sought more often in our circuit. The reason is that is a major factor that we have always discussed with the family of the victim(s), and for the 13 years when death sentences were not being carried out in South Carolina, that was a factor that generally worked against the decision to go through with the rigorous path of capital litigation.”

Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor:

“We have not served notice in any of our current cases that we intend to seek the death penalty for the defendant. With regard to inquiries about specific pending cases, we do not offer public comments that speak to or might be construed to speak to the nature or weight of evidence.”

Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor:

We try to only apply the worst of the worst defendants, not every case that qualifies statutorily. Our office will continue as we have done, prosecuting the worst of the worst defendants based on their propensity for violence. Again this will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis.

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