Sean's Last Wish Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 01/06/09
Contact:
Elke Kennedy
elke@seanslastwish.org
Stop Early Parole for Sean Kennedy's Killer
In May of 2007, in Greenville, South Carolina, Sean Kennedy, a 20-year-old gay man was leaving a bar when Stephen Andrew Moller called him a homophobic slur and hit him in the face so hard that Kennedy's brain separated from its stem. Moller left him on the sidewalk, unconscious, and Sean died later than night from his injuries.
Sean was killed because he was gay and his murder was unprovoked, yet his killer was plea bargained down to involuntary manslaughter and received a 5 year sentence suspended to 3 years. Because of the credit Moller received for time he served before his sentencing, the longest possible time he will have to serve in prison is until September 2009. Because of the inadequacy of South Carolina laws and the lack of hate crimes statutes in the state, Sean's murderer is eligible for parole as early as next month, meaning that he will have served only 8 months in prison since his sentencing.
Sean's Last Wish is asking the GLBT community and their allies to protest this injustice and ask the parole board to make Stephen Andrew Moller serve the remainder of his sentence. While Sean Kennedy's family may never see justice done for Sean, we ask you to help us do all that we can to show SC officials and the rest of the country that our community will not simply sit back and watch such violence and injustice continue to affect the lives of GLBT people.
Please write a letter to the parole board and in your letter, please remind them of the violent and unprovoked nature of Moller's offense and the pain and suffering it has caused in the lives of Sean Kennedy's family and friends. Also, please let Sean's mother Elke Kennedy know if you send a letter and if possible, send her a copy of the letter (elke@seanslastwish.org), so she can have them to take with her to the parole hearing.
Be sure to include Moller's full name and ID number:
Stephen Andrew Moller - SCDC ID # 00328891.
Send your letters to:
Department of Probation Pardon and Parole Services
2221 Devine Street, Suite 600, PO Box 50666
Columbia SC 29250
For more information on Sean's murder and Sean's Last Wish, please visit www.seanslastwish.org
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