Larry Moon was executed by the State of Georgia for the murder of Ricky Callahan
According to court documents Larry Moon would shoot and kill Ricky Callahan before robbing him for his possessions and vehicle. Ricky Callahan body would be found in a rock pit. Moon would be arrested driving Callahan vehicle
Larry Moon would be convicted and sentenced to death
Larry Moon would be executed by lethal injection on March 25 2003
Moon maintained his innocence through his execution
Larry Moon Photos
Larry Moon FAQ
When Was Larry Moon Executed
Larry Moon was executed on March 25 2003
Larry Moon Case
About a dozen protesters gathered near the prison gate Tuesday in opposition to Moon’s execution. (Staff photo/Catherine Edgemon) The warm, tranquil spring weather outside the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson Tuesday concealed the anxiety and fear convicted killer Larry Eugene Moon felt during his last hours. Two medical examiners declared Moon, 55, dead at 7:23 p.m., moments after his execution by lethal injection.
Moon was convicted of the 1984 murder of Ricky Callahan. Authorities said Moon abducted Callahan at gunpoint outside a convenience store in Indian Springs in Catoosa County. Moon took his 24-year-old victim to a secluded chert pit near Interstate 75, where he shot him twice in the head, stole his wallet and car, and left his body. “I am innocent,” Moon said in his final statement. “I did not kill Ricky Callahan.”
Scheree Lipscomb, public affairs director for the state Department of Corrections, said Moon was anxious and nervous Tuesday. He visited with his mother, sister, niece and pastor that afternoon and ate most of his final meal. Execution witness James Espy of the Dalton Daily Citizen said warden Frederick Head talked with Moon, whose lip was quivering, as he was strapped on the gurney. Espy could not hear the conversation, but believed the warden was trying to ease his fears and to be as kind as possible.
Moon refused a final prayer, Lipscomb said. He also refused offers of a sedative about one hour before the execution and again about 30 minutes before. The execution was “uneventful, and everything went smoothly as planned,” she said.
Don Earnhart, reporter for area radio station 92.1 FM, said he believes Operation Iraqi Freedom overshadowed the execution, which generated less public interest than previous executions there have. He has reported on about 20 executions, including eight in the last two years, he said. Earnhart said throngs of death penalty opponents and proponents converged on the lawn at the prison’s entrance for past executions. As many as four or five television crews, in addition to several newspaper and radio stations, reported on executions in the past. Only a handful of media was on hand Tuesday. “There is less and less interest in it every time,” he said. “Now, you can’t even tell from the road (in front of the prison) that anything is going on.”
About a dozen death penalty opponents, including representatives with Amnesty International Inc. and Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, held a candlelight prayer vigil in front of the prison. According to Moon’s supporters, “the state convicted the wrong man.” Alleged hit man Mickey Lee Davis confessed to Callahan’s murder. He died in a motorcycle accident in 1988.
Laura Moye with the Amnesty International Atlanta office said she helped organize the prison vigil, one of nine conducted across the state. Moon’s vigil was the ninth death row inmate’s vigil she has attended. Based on her Christian faith and belief in human rights, she opposes the death penalty. She said the punishment is “not consistent with the Christian gospel,” which offers a message of redemption and forgiveness. She said she grew up in Hong Kong, where her parents were missionaries. While she sympathizes with Callahan’s family, she does not believe justice is served in any execution, particularly when unresolved questions of convict’s innocence persist.
Two inmates convicted in Walker County and one in Catoosa County remain on death row, according to the Department of Corrections. Jamie Ray Ward was sentenced to death in 1991 following his Walker County conviction for killing Nikia Kay Gilbreath, according to the Department of Corrections. Wilburn Wiley Dobbs was sentenced to death in 1974 for killing a grocery store clerk in Walker County; a hearing to review motions in resentencing Dobbs will be held July 25. Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert “Buzz” Franklin has said he plans to seek the death penalty against Dobbs. Robert L. Collier was sentenced to death in Catoosa County in 1978, according to the Department of Corrections.
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=730&show=localnews&NewsID=441396
