Vigil in honor of death row inmate Richard Moore, killed by lethal injection

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Despite thousands of signatures and calls for change, Governor Henry McMaster did not grant Richard Moore clemency on Friday, allowing the state to carry out his execution. The death row inmate is now the second person to be put to death since the death penalty resumed in South Carolina.

Community members gathered Friday evening for a prayer vigil at Cokesbury United Methodist Church to honor the life of Richard Moore. A single church bell tolled as the names of all the people put to death in South Carolina since 1999 were called, adding Moore to the list.

South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty says community vigils like this are meant to provide space for the grief surrounding the death penalty.

Moore was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection for the 1999 shooting of convenience store clerk James Mahoney at 6 p.m. Friday. Moore is the second person to be put to death in South Carolina since the death penalty resumed after a 13-year hiatus. No other death penalty case in South Carolina has involved an unarmed defendant who says he was defending himself when the victim threatened him with a gun after Moore tried to rob him.

During the ceremony, Lead Pastor Reverand Bryan Pigfod said, “At this vigil we would like to try to bring some closure to Richard’s story and give us a more complete picture of the human being that Richard is versus the two-dimensional image that is so often perceived. focused.”

READ MORE | ‘SC executes Richard Moore despite widely supported plea to reduce sentence to life in prison’

The pastor shared stories about Moore’s relationships with his children, his connections with other inmates and clergy, and his path to faith, which played a crucial role in his life.

Moore is the last black person in South Carolina to be sentenced to death by an all-white jury, and his case was deeply politicized during the Spartanburg County Solicitor primary at the time. Clergy leading the vigil say it is important to continue fighting for change in our communities.

“It shows that while the momentum may be building slowly, it is definitely building and we are going to see more and more people coming out and saying please don’t murder in my name,” Pastor Pigford told News 4.

The vigil, in partnership with the South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, was one of several held across the state and comes after the South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty presented thousands of signatures to Governor McMaster stating he called on him to grant Moore clemency and reduce his sentence to life in prison.

McMaster ultimately showed no mercy to Moore. The executive director of South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said vigils like the one in North Charleston are a space for grief, but also a place for change, serving as a catalyst for our communities to move forward by turning grief into action.

“It is also a space for a call to action, helping people connect with our activism and the work of abolishing the death penalty and catalyzing criminal justice reform in South Carolina,” executive director of South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Pastor Hillary Taylor said.

Officials with South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said Moore should never have received a death sentence in the first place and believe that if his case were heard today, his fate would have been different.