In South Carolina, 59-year-old Richard Moore, who was sentenced to death for shooting a salesman in 1999, was executed. The maximum sentence was carried out despite numerous appeals for a stay of execution. – His punishment is completely disproportionate to the crime he committed, – said the convicted son.
South Carolina Department of Corrections spokeswoman Christy Schein said the execution was carried out by lethal injection at 6:24 p.m. local time (11:24 a.m.) on Friday.
A day ago, the Supreme Court of the United States rejected the request of the 59-year-old prisoner to suspend the execution of his sentence. Moore also asked for a pardon from South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, but he rejected his request on Friday and allowed the execution to go ahead as planned.
Murder during robbery
Moore, who is black, was convicted of killing white employee James Mahoney during a robbery of a convenience store in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Moore entered the store unarmed. When the clerk pointed the gun at him, Moore grabbed the gun. Mahoney then grabbed a second gun and shot the robber in the arm before he fired the fatal shot at him. Moore fled with a bag full of $1,400 in cash.
Richard Moore South Carolina Department of Labor / Zuma Press / Forum
About refraining from performance
Moore's attorneys unsuccessfully petitioned Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to commute his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole because of Moore's impeccable behavior in prison.
As defense lawyers argued, it is not fair to execute someone who committed an act that could be considered self-defense. “No other death penalty case in South Carolina has involved an unarmed defendant defending himself against a victim who threatened him with a gun,” the attorneys said. They also called it unfair that Moore, a black man, was the only death row inmate convicted by a jury that did not include any African Americans.
– This is definitely a part of my life that I want to change because I took someone's life. I took someone's life, Moore says in the recording, which was released by his lawyers as part of his plea for clemency. More than 20 people have appealed the death sentence, including two jurors, the judge in Moore's original trial, a former director of the state prison system and several pastors.
The convict's son, Lyndall Moore, who was four years old when his father was accused, argued that Moore deserved mercy. – This is a man who made a mistake and this particular mistake led to the death of another person. But his sentence is completely disproportionate to the crime committed, he said before the execution.
Convict's last statement
At a press conference Friday, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections revealed the contents of Moore's final statement, which his attorney read aloud during his execution.
“To the family of Mr. James Mahoney: I am deeply sorry for the pain and sadness I have caused you. To my children and grandchildren: I love you and am proud of you. Thank you for the joy you have brought to my life. To all my friends and To my friends, new and old: thank you for your love and support,” Moore said.
The AP noted that no South Carolina governor has commuted the death penalty since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to retain the death penalty nearly half a century ago. Since then, 45 of them have been in South Carolina.
Main photo: South Carolina Department of Labor / Zuma Press / Forum
