Death row inmate pushed the limit with 10-part last meal before execution
Joe Yates
Featured Image Credit: SC Department of Corrections / NBC
After more than two decades on death row, a remorseful Richard Moore enjoyed a huge meal in his final days.
In 2001, the then 36-year-old was controversially handed the death penalty in South Carolina for the murder of convenience store clerk James Mahoney following an altercation that Moore himself claims was over 12 cents.
It happened two years prior to his sentence, in September 1999. Moore had entered the shop unarmed and did not intend to kill anyone, when he got into a row over 12 cents, at which point Mahoney is believed to have pulled a gun on him.
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Moore's legal team claimed that he attempted to wrestle the gun out of his hand, at which point the worker pulled a second firearm out and shot Moore, hitting him in the arm before returning fire himself and hitting him in the chest.
The then 34-year-old grabbed roughly $1,400 from the till and fled.
However, prosecutors claim that he had entered the store with the intention to rob it despite being unarmed.
Moore was 59-years-old at the time he was executed by way of lethal injection on Friday (1 November).
Prison spokesperson Chrysti Shain read out his final words following his execution at a press conference. They were: “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 am so proud of you. Thank you for the joy you have brought to my life. To all of my family and friends, new and old, thank you for your love and support.”
So how did Moore push the limit with a 10-part meal?
Well, for his last supper he ordered fried catfish, a medium cooked steak, shrimp, cheesy broccoli, scalloped potatoes, peas, sweet potato pie, a German chocolate cake, and to wash it all down, he asked for grape juice.
As last meals go, it's not a bad one.
Speaking prior to his death, Moore's attorney Lindsey Vann said: “He’s very remorseful and sorry for the horrible, tragic decisions he made in his life. But he spent the past 20 years really trying to make up for that by loving the people he still has in his life.
“I’m really struck by the image that I’ve had of Richard’s trial where there’s a white prosecutor, white judge, white defence attorneys, an all-white jury and he’s the only person in the room who is African American and he’s being judged by a jury who has no one who looks like him.”