Authorities in South Carolina have executed a death row inmate who received broad support from his former judge, jurors, and jailers.
Richard Moore, 59, was put to death by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Friday for the 1999 killing of convenience store clerk James Mahoney.
Moore shot the Spartanburg clerk to death after arriving at the store unarmed. He took the gun from Mahoney when he pointed it at him.
The victim then retrieved another gun and shot Moore in the arm after he was himself shot in the chest.
Mahoney succumbed to his injuries. Moore’s attorney said he acted in self-defense.
Republican Gov. Henry McMaster refused to spare Moore’s life despite pleas from the three jurors who condemned the man to death in 2001 and from Moore’s trial judge, a former state prison director, and several pastors.
“He was not a danger to anyone, and the state eliminated a glowing example of reform and rehabilitation,” the law firm who represented Moore said in a statement.
“By killing Richard, the State also created more victims. Richard’s children are now fatherless, and his grandchildren will have to grow up with their ‘Pa Pa’.”
