South Carolina has executed Richard Moore, the second death row inmate to die at the hands of the state this year.
Richard Moore, 59, was executed by lethal injection at approximately 6:24 p.m. on Nov. 1 at Broad River Correctional Institution, marking South Carolina’s second execution this year.
This comes despite calls for clemency from anti-death penalty advocates. On Thursday, a petition with 50,000 signatures urging Gov. Henry McMaster to intervene was delivered to his office.
Moore was sentenced to death for the 1999 killing of Spartanburg County convenience store clerk James Mahoney. Authorities said a shootout ensued after Moore, who was initially unarmed, took Mahoney’s gun during an attempted robbery.
Prosecutors argued Moore’s blood was found on Mahoney’s body after he leaned over him to search for cash, bleeding from a gunshot wound to his arm. Moore’s defense contended he was the first in modern history to be executed for being unarmed before defending himself when confronted with a weapon.
Moore, who is Black, was sentenced to death by an all-white jury. His attorneys argued this sentencing was unfair and that his punishment was “disproportionate.” Moore had no violations on his prison record, had worked to rehabilitate other inmates and remained active in his children’s lives.
Gov. McMaster has not granted clemency to any death row inmates. South Carolina recently resumed executions after a lengthy hiatus, with plans to execute an inmate roughly every six weeks.
Just weeks ago, Freddie Owens was executed by lethal injection for the 1997 killing of a Greenville County convenience store clerk, marking the state’s first execution in over 30 years. Days before his death, new details raised questions about Owens’ involvement in the crime.
Currently, 30 other inmates await execution on South Carolina’s death row.
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