This will mark the state’s first execution in almost a decade
South Carolina has scheduled its first execution in almost a decade after updating its death chamber to offer numerous options.
57-year-old Richard Moore has spent 20 years on death row for murdering James Mahoney. But now, after a state law change, Moore will be executed on April 29.
Executions in South Carolina have been halted for so long due to a lack of lethal injection doses. A law change in 2021 now means that the electric chair will be the primary means of execution. However, prisoners could choose to die via lethal injection or firing squad if resources are available.
A $53,600 renovation has fitted out the Columbia’s death chamber with a fitted chair, restraints facing the wall, protective equipment and bulletproof glass.
Firing squad executions entail three shooters, all aiming at the prisoner’s head, who will be wearing a hood. Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah also allow firing squads as a means for execution.
Moore was initially scheduled for execution in 2020, but it was delayed after the state could not get lethal injection drugs. Should Moore’s date goes ahead; he will be the first executed prisoner in South Carolina since 36-year-old Jeffrey Motts was killed in 2011.
There are currently 35 inmates on death row in South Carolina.
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