COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina sentenced Richard Moore to death by lethal injection on Friday for the 1999 shooting death of a convenience store clerk, despite a broad plea for clemency by the parties. which included three jurors and the judge at his trial, a former prison warden, pastors and members of his family.

Moore, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.

Moore was convicted of killing James Mahoney, the Spartanburg clerk, in September 1999 and sentenced to death two years later. Moore entered the store unarmed, grabbed a gun from the victim as it was pointed at him, and fatally shot him in the chest while the victim shot him in the arm with a second gun.

Moore’s attorneys asked Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to reduce his sentence to life in prison without parole because of his impeccable prison record and his willingness to be a mentor to other inmates. They also said it would be unfair to execute someone for what could be considered self-defense and for Moore, who was black, to be the only inmate on the state’s death row convicted by a jury without any African Americans.

But McMaster refused to grant clemency. In a letter, he did not give a reason, but said he reviewed all the documents presented by Moore’s attorneys and spoke with the victim’s family.

No South Carolina governor has reduced the death penalty, and 45 executions have already been carried out in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to restart them nearly 50 years ago.

Unlike previous executions, the curtain of the execution chamber was open when media witnesses arrived. Moore’s last words had already been read by Lindsey Vann, his attorney of 10 years.

Moore had his eyes closed and his head was pointed toward the ceiling. A prison employee announced that the execution could begin at 6:01 p.m. Moore took several deep breaths that sounded like snoring for the next minute. He then breathed shallowly until approximately 6:04, when his breathing stopped. Moore showed no obvious signs of discomfort.

Vann cried when the employee announced that the execution could begin. In her hand she carried a prayer bracelet with a cross. Sitting next to him was a spiritual advisor, with his hands on his knees and palms up.

Two members of the victims’ family were also present, along with attorney Barry Barnette, who was part of the prosecution team that convicted Moore. Everyone watched stoically.

Afterward, prison spokeswoman Chrysti Shain read his final words at a news conference.

“To the family of Mr. James Mahoney, I am deeply sorry for the pain and sadness I caused you all,” he said. “To my sons 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.

Three jurors who sentenced Moore to death in 2001, including one who wrote Friday, sent letters asking McMaster to change his sentence to life in prison without parole. They were joined by a former state prison warden, Moore’s trial judge, his son and daughter, a half-dozen childhood friends and several pastors.

All said Moore, 59, was a changed man who loved God, doted on his new grandchildren as best he could, helped guards keep the peace and counseled other prisoners after his drug addiction clouded his trial and led to the shooting in which Mahoney was killed, according to the clemency petition.

“He was not a danger to anyone, and the state removed a shining example of reform and rehabilitation,” the law firm Justice 360, which 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 without their ‘Pa Pa.’”

Moore previously had two execution dates postponed while the state fixed problems that created a 13-year pause on the death penalty, including companies’ refusal to sell lethal injection drugs to the state, a hurdle that was resolved by the approval of a secrecy law.

Moore is the second inmate executed in South Carolina since executions resumed. Four more are out of appeals and the state appears set to execute them in five-week intervals until spring. There are currently 30 people sentenced to death.

The governor said before the execution that he would carefully review everything sent by Moore’s lawyers and, as usual, wait until minutes before the execution began to announce his decision after hearing that all appeals had ended.

“Lenience is a matter of grace, a matter of mercy. There is no standard. There’s no real law about it,” McMaster told reporters Thursday.

Prosecutors and Mahoney’s relatives have not spoken publicly in the weeks before the execution and did not speak afterward. In the past, relatives said they suffered deeply and wanted justice.

Moore’s lawyers said his original attorneys did not analyze the crime scene carefully and left unchallenged prosecutors’ argument that Moore, who entered the store unarmed, shot a customer and that his intention all along was a robbery. .

According to his story, the employee pointed a gun at Moore after the two argued because he was 12 cents short for what he wanted to buy.

Moore said he knocked the gun out of Mahoney’s hand and the employee pulled out a second gun. Moore was shot in the arm and fired back, hitting Mahoney in the chest. Moore then went behind the counter and stole about $1,400.

No one else on South Carolina’s death row began their crime unarmed and without intent to kill, Moore’s current attorneys say.

Jon Ozmint, a former prosecutor who was director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections from 2003 to 2011 and who added his voice to those calling for clemency, said Moore’s case was not the worst of the worst types of crime that would normally trigger a criminal case. death penalty.

There are many people who were not sentenced to death but committed much more heinous crimes, Ozmint said, citing the example of Todd Kohlhepp, who was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to killing seven people, including a woman he raped. and tortured for days. .

Lawyers for Moore, who is black, also said his trial was unfair. There were no African Americans on the jury even though 20% of Spartanburg County residents were black.

“This execution highlights the flaws in South Carolina’s death penalty system. Who is executed and who gets to live out the rest of their life in prison seems to be based solely on chance, race, or status. “It is intolerable that our state would impose the maximum punishment in such a haphazard manner,” Justice 360 ​​said.