Columbia, South Carolina Witnesses Second Execution in Three Months
Shaken residents of Columbia, South Carolina, this evening witnessed the execution of Richard Benard Moore. The 59-year-old is the second person to be executed in the state in the past three months, marking a grim period for the city.
The manner of Moore’s death was by lethal injection, with confirmation of his passing at 6:24 p.m. at the Broad River Correctional Facility. His death sentence was the culminative result of a life crime: he was convicted for the shooting death of James Mahoney in September 1999 at Nikki’s Speed Mart in Spartanburg.
A Jury’s Decision and a Convict’s Last Words
An all-white jury found Moore guilty of murder on Oct. 20, 2001, and two days later, he received his death sentence. In the shadow of his looming execution, Moore penned a final statement to his attorney, Lindsey Vann of Justice 360, which she read aloud. In it, he expressed his apology to Mahoney’s family, along with heartfelt sentiments towards his children, grandchildren, and supporters.
Moore wrote: “To the family of Mr. James Mahoney, I am deeply sorry for the pain and sorrow I caused you all. To my children and granddaughters, I love you and I am so proud of you.”
A Govenor’s Denial and a Witness’s Account
Moore’s hope for clemency was dashed just minutes before the execution. Governor Henry McMaster denied his appeal, continuing the state’s track record of no executive clemency granted since the state resumed executions in 1976.
A witness to the execution, FoxCarolina reporter Brookley Cromer, soberly noted the final minutes of Moore’s life. She observed the needle that delivered the lethal dose of pentobarbital being connected, and detailed Moore’s last breaths, which ceased at 6:04 p.m.
Final Meal and Observances Outside the Correctional Facility
According to prison spokesperson Chrysti Shain, Moore’s final meal consisted of a medium-cooked steak, fried catfish and shrimp, scalloped potato, green peas, broccoli with cheese, sweet potato pie, German chocolate cake, and grape juice.
Just outside the facility’s walls, dozens gathered to express their condemnation of capital punishment and to pray for Moore. Protester Vern Garcia voiced his sentiments with a poignant reminder for the state, “if South Carolina wants to be pro-life, they have to be pro-life entirely.”
Pleas Denied and a Pattern of Executions
Judge Mary Lewis Geiger rejected a request for a stay of execution for Moore a day before. His attorneys had argued that McMaster couldn’t be impartial about the execution, given his former role as South Carolina attorney general during which he defended Moore’s death sentence. The request for clemency was also signed by an array of notable figures, such as former South Carolina Supreme Court Justice Kaye Hearn and former Circuit Court Judge Gary Clary, who had sentenced Moore to death.
This marked the second execution in the state in just six weeks. In September, Freddie “Khalil” Owens became the first person to be executed in South Carolina since 2011. And now, the somber duty falls on Moore, leaving the residents of Columbia in quiet contemplation about the grim reality of their state’s criminal justice process.
