South Carolina inmate Richard Moore was executed by lethal injection Friday for the 1999 murder of a convenience store clerk, despite widespread calls for clemency.

Moore was the second person executed in the state in just over a month after a 13-year hiatus caused by difficulty obtaining medication for its lethal injection protocol. The 59-year-old man was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. after Governor Henry McMaster and the Supreme Court denied his request to stop the execution. Two years ago, in discussing the Moore case, Republican McMaster said he would not issue a commutation.

When the execution began, Moore was strapped to a stretcher and a blanket covered most of his body. Witnesses said he looked up at the ceiling with his eyes closed as the lethal drug entered his body, before taking four to six deep breaths. The State reported.

Witnesses included two relatives of James Mahoney, Moore’s attorney, Lindsey Vann, his spiritual advisor, three journalists, a South Carolina Department of Corrections official, an agent with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and Spartanburg Prosecutor Barry Barnette, who played a role in prosecuting Moore in 2001. Barnette and members of Mahoney’s family looked stoically forward as Moore took his last breath. according The State. Outside, about 40 people, including a lawyer who represented Moore, death penalty opponents and members of the clergy, held a prayer vigil.

In a final statement, which was read at a news conference, Moore said: “To the family of Mr. James Mahoney, I am deeply sorry for the pain and sadness I have caused you all. To my children and granddaughters, I love you and I am very proud of you. Thank you for the joy you have brought to my life.

“To all my family and friends, new and old, thank you for your love and support.”

Their final meal was medium-rare steak, fried catfish and shrimp, scalloped potatoes, peas, broccoli cheese, sweet potato pie, German chocolate cake, and grape juice.

Moore was the last remaining person on South Carolina’s death row to be convicted by a jury with no black members, his defense attorneys say. He is also believed to be the only person in South Carolina death penalty history executed for an armed robbery who did not bring the deadly weapon to the scene.

Moore was convicted of killing convenience store clerk Mahoney during a 1999 robbery in Spartanburg County. According to prosecutors, Moore entered the store without a gun and managed to grab Mahoney’s gun, which he pulled out after getting into an altercation with Moore because he was short 12 cents. Mahoney then grabbed a second firearm and shot Moore in the arm, but Moore responded by fatally shooting Mahoney in the head. Prosecutors said Moore then fled the scene with a bag containing more than $1,400 in cash.

Prosecutors accused Moore of robbing the store to finance his crack addiction. However, over the years, Moore maintained that he was there to buy beer and cigarettes. In 2001 he was sentenced to death.

Failed appeals

Moore has appealed his sentence several times, most recently on the grounds that prosecutors impermissibly struck two black jurors because of their race in his 2001 murder case, which the state denied. In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors cannot eliminate a potential juror based solely on his or her race. If challenged, the state must declare a “race-neutral” reason for excluding the candidate.

Trey Gowdy, a prosecutor in Moore’s case who later served four terms as a Republican congressman, told the judge that one black female jury candidate was beaten primarily for allegedly hiding her criminal record during questioning, while another was excluded because her son He had been convicted of murder. Gowdy noted that a white juror with a similar family situation had also been dismissed. Additionally, he noted that the final jury included a Hispanic member.

But in a brief filed Tuesday with the Supreme Court, South Carolina’s attorney general argued that it was too late for Moore to raise the issue of jurors’ race because it had not been raised in previous appeals. They argued that Moore killed Mahoney in self-defense.

Their appeals gained national attention, with more than 20 people – including two jurors, the judge in Moore’s original trial and a former director of the state prison system – asking McMaster to spare Moore’s life by granting him clemency, The Associated Press reported.

Moore’s son Lyndall, who was four years old when his father was charged, also argued that his father deserved mercy.

“He’s not some kind of monster,” Lyndall said. The State. “He’s just a guy who fought, but always a guy with a good heart, you know, a normal guy trying to be a good father.”

In prison, Moore reportedly became a devout Christian, devoted himself to mentoring other inmates, and took up painting. He also encouraged his children to avoid their own mistakes.

Former Department of Corrections Director Jon Ozmint described Moore as a “trustworthy and consistent force for good on death row,” according to The Stateand argued that commuting Moore’s sentence could serve as a powerful example of redemption. Ozmint added: “Perhaps the most compelling reason to commute Richard’s sentence is precisely because he is at peace with whatever decision is made.”