Richard Moore was executed Friday in South Carolina, becoming the second person put to death in the state in just over a month, after a 13-year hiatus. Moore, 59, was convicted in the 1999 shooting death of James Mahoney at a convenience store in Spartanburg, a town in northern South Carolina. Moore’s all-white jury convicted him of murder and armed robbery after just two hours of deliberation and sentenced him to death after just one more hour.

Moore’s execution was all the more remarkable because when he entered Nikki’s Speed ​​Mart on September 16, 1999, he was unarmed. Moore is believed to be the only person in the history of South Carolina’s death penalty who was executed in connection with an armed robbery and who did not bring the deadly weapon to the scene of the crime.

The two guns involved were behind the counter when Moore entered the store. Moore’s attorneys argued that Moore killed Mahoney in self-defense, stating: “No other death penalty case in South Carolina has involved an unarmed defendant who defended himself when the victim threatened with a weapon. »

Prosecutors said Moore removed Mahoney’s handgun, and that Mahoney then grabbed a second gun and shot Moore in the arm before Moore fired the fatal shot. Moore got away with more than $1,400 in cash. Moore’s lawyers argued that he came to the store to buy beer and cigarettes and that an argument ensued when he was short 12 cents and wanted to use the coins from the beer cup. currency to finalize your purchase.

On October 31, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear Moore’s arguments for his case to be reconsidered, paving the way for his execution. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster refused to grant clemency, although he received a petition with more than 50,000 signatures calling for clemency. The pleas of the trial judge, three jurors and the former director of the state Department of Corrections also fell on deaf ears.

In a closing statement read by Moore’s attorney, Lindsey Vann, Moore said, in part: “To the family of Mr. James Mahoney, I am deeply sorry for the pain and heartache I am causing you all. To my children and granddaughters, I love you and am so proud of you.

According to The state newspaper of Columbia, South Carolina, after witnesses were allowed to watch the execution, prison officials administered a single dose of pentobarbital, a sedative, as Moore lay strapped to a gurney, facing the ceiling. One minute after the lethal drug was administered, witnesses heard between four and six deep, gasping breaths, followed by shallow breaths. His chest seemed to stop moving at 6:04 p.m.