Skylar Laird

1 week ago | scdailygazette.com | Skylar Laird

COLUMBIA — Mikal Mahdi, who pleaded guilty to two murders committed during a crime spree, is scheduled to become the second inmate in the state executed by firing squad at 6 p.m. Friday. The last remaining way for Mahdi, 42, to avoid the death chamber would be for Gov. Henry McMaster to grant him clemency, which no governor in modern history has done. The U.S. Supreme Court declined his final appeal Friday morning. Mahdi is one of 27 inmates remaining on death row.

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Skylar Laird

Photos of Winston Hunter, who was killed in 2022 at 6 years old during a drive-by shooting, sit outside the Statehouse at a Victims Matter Rally on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (Photo by Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)COLUMBIA — When Courtney Hunter’s 6-year-old son was killed in a drive-by shooting, she didn’t know what to do next.

2 weeks ago | scdailygazette.com | Skylar Laird

COLUMBIA — A civil rights group asked a federal judge Wednesday to pause enforcement of a South Carolina law that keeps secret everything about the people and companies involved in executions. The requested suspension of penalties for disclosing the confidential information would not affect Friday’s scheduled execution by firing squad. Rather, the American Civil Liberties Union is seeking to block charges indefinitely while its challenge to the secrecy law progresses through the courts.

2 weeks ago | scdailygazette.com | Skylar Laird

COLUMBIA — The state Supreme Court will not halt an execution scheduled for Friday, according to an order. Mikal Mahdi, 42, is scheduled to die by firing squad at 6 p.m. Friday. Mahdi pleaded guilty in 2006 to killing two men during a multi-state crime spree two years prior. Mahdi could still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his execution or ask Gov. Henry McMaster to change his sentence to life in prison.

2 weeks ago | newsfromthestates.com | Skylar Laird

COLUMBIA — The state Department of Motor Vehicles has fixed a glitch in its system that automatically disqualified 17-year-olds from registering to vote, ending a legal fight with the state American Civil Liberties Union, the civil rights group announced Monday. Under state law, teenagers who will turn 18 by Election Day can register to vote up to 13 months in advance. One way of doing so would be for teens to check a box while applying for a driver’s license saying they want to register.