Mother of gay murder victim speaks out

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On May 16, 2007 Sean William Kennedy was murdered by Stephen Moller. Stephen was sentenced to 3 years and is elligible for parole after 10 months!


Elke Kennedy, Sean's mother held a press conference after the hearing. Here is her statement:


I want to thank you all for being here today. You have followed the story since Sean's violent murder last year and I appreciate it.


There was no justice today for my son Sean.


The sentence that Stephen Moeller received is a joke and a slap on the wrist.


Once again it proves that in the state of SC there is no justice for the victim, especially for a victim of a senseless, violent, bias motivated crime.


I understand that the judge had to sentence according to the plea agreement and the existing restrictions in the law, but that does not make this any easier!


Our judicial system is a joke and it is trying to make you believe that it is there to assure justice.


Decisions are made by the solicitor instead of judges and jury's.


Like in Sean's case, nobody will ever hear the evidence and all the facts like the voice mail because it was plea bargained by the solicitor, who has only met with me on time almost 10 month ago.


In essence when the solicitor plea bargains any case, are they not really working for the defendant instead of the victim? Most pleas benefit only the defendant because it results in a lesser charge.


In fact, I believe that Sean's case has been mishandled from the beginning.


Getting the investigation started - we had to initiate the securing of evidence -sheriffs deputies did not take it serious.


Our Solicitors got a lot of pressure about the case, received weekly phone calls from our SC senators from Washington and from congress man Inglis himself. Do any of you know of another local case that our Senators and congressman would be that interested in? I don't!


Furthermore, our officials have known about the 25 year gap in our laws and have not done anything about it! When asked why there was this gap I was told that nobody had ever complained.


Well this mother has and will continue to do so.


Bob Arial stated last October that involuntary manslaughter charge and the maximum time with that is not enough in the case of Sean's Murder, but that is all they could do according to the existing law!


Our solicitor invited me to help him change these laws - Mr. Arial - I am here, I am willing and I demand that we change these laws.


So moving forward we must identify the gaps, educate the public and we must demand all inclusive laws in our state that will protect all human beings.


We need to be able to identify bias motivated crimes and be able to report them.


Remember, this is an election year - you can make a difference!

My son was violently murdered because of hate and as his mother I wanted justice. This could have happened to anybodies son, daughter, brother, sister, etc.


My family will never be the same, a big part of our lives has been ripped out of our hearts and we are all struggling through Birthdays', holiday's, etc.


"No mother should ever have to bury her child, No mother should ever have to lose her child to violence and hate, No mother should ever have to fight to see justice for her child!"


http://www.seanslastwish.org/

Followup: Stephen Moller sentenced to 3 years for involuntary manslaughter

By Eric Connor
Greenville News

The Taylors teenager who threw a single, fatal punch at Sean Kennedy outside an Eastside bar was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison after an impassioned argument about the role Kennedy's sexual orientation may have played.

Stephen Andrew Moller pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, admitting he punched 20-year-old Kennedy in the face in the parking lot of the former Brew's Pub on Pelham Road in May 2007 after a night of drinking.

Kennedy's head hit the pavement, causing fatal brain damage.

Shortly after Moller hit Kennedy, Moller called a girl that Kennedy was with outside the bar and left a voice message mixed with laughter, profanity and anti-homosexual epithets bragging about the assault, Moyer said.

The prosecutor read a transcript of the message in court, which Kennedy's mother pleaded unsuccessfully with the judge to listen to the actual recording before sentencing Moller.

backstory

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Mother of slain S.C. gay man comes to Atlanta

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Elke Kennedy, the mother of a slain South Carolina gay man, visits Atlanta Sunday to speak about the need for a federal hate crimes law.

Kennedy will speak at First Metropolitan Community Church, 1379 Tullie Road, at 3 p.m. on March 16, according to a press release from PFLAG Atlanta. Her son, Sean Kennedy, 20, was killed May 16, 2007, after leaving a Greenville County bar. His attacker called him a “faggot.”

The beating caused Sean’s brain to separate from his brain stem and ricochet inside his skull. He was taken off life support later that night. Although South Carolina police investigated Sean’s death as a hate crime, prosecutors said there was no evidence of “malicious intent” to kill, and charged Stephen Moller, 18 at the time of the murder, with involuntary manslaughter in October. The manslaughter charge carries a maximum of five years in prison.

“It’s bad enough that you have to lose a child and deal with all of that, but then on top of that you have to deal with the fact that they’re saying your son deserved to die, or that [Moller] really didn’t mean to do it, so we’re just going to give him a slap on the wrist,” Kennedy told Southern Voice last week.

Georgia and South Carolina do not have hate crimes laws. The only three other states without hate crimes law are Arkansas, Indiana and Wyoming, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Of the 45 states and the District of Columbia with hate crime laws, 32 cover sexual orientation.

The federal hate crimes law, known as the Matthew Shepard Act and named for the young man killed 10 years ago because he was gay, also continues to stall in Congress.

The Shepard bill would give the federal government authority to prosecute hate crimes against gays and transgender persons as well as against persons with disabilities. Existing federal law allows federal authorities to prosecute hate crimes targeting people because of their race, religion or ethnicity.

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