South Carolina to execute Richard Moore despite objections from judge and jurors: ‘Grant him mercy’

Moore, 59, awaits clemency from the governor as his children plead for his life to be spared

South Carolina is on track to execute a man on death row on Friday, despite growing concerns about the validity of his sentence and objections from the judge who originally condemned him to death.

Richard Moore, 59, is due to be killed by lethal injection at 6pm unless the state’s Republican governor, Henry McMaster, grants clemency. Moore’s children have pleaded for his life to be spared, and his resentencing efforts are now supported by the former corrections department director, two trial jurors, the judge who presided over the case and a former state supreme court justice.

The case has drawn scrutiny over racial bias and the unusual nature of his death sentence, and is part of a spate of rapid executions the state is pursuing.