Michael Shannon Taylor, a 54-year-old double murderer, was executed in Alabama on Thursday for the 1991 killings of an elderly couple. He refused a final meal, but prison staff observed him drinking several sodas and eating a candy bar during his last 48 hours.
Execution 35 years after the crime
Taylor was convicted in 1993 and sentenced to death unanimously by a jury for the murders of 83-year-old Ivan Ernest Moore and 79-year-old Lucille Moore inside their home during a robbery. He was 19 at the time of the crime.
The Moore family released a statement after the execution. Quoted by WBRC News, they said: "Our family has waited 35 long years for this day. We are thankful to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office and everyone else who helped bring this case to an end. They have treated our family with kindness and respect, and we truly appreciate everything they have done."
Family and officials react
The family added: "Still, it is very hard for us to understand why it took 35 years. We know that a person has the right to appeal, but there should come a time when the jury’s decision is final. For all these years, our family has had to live with the waiting, the delays, and the uncertainty. We have never forgotten our loved ones or what was taken from us. Waiting 35 years for justice has been painful, and no victim’s family should have to wait that long."
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement: "Tonight is long overdue for the relatives and loved ones of Ivan and Lucille Moore. Thirty-five years ago, the Moores showed kindness to a young man in need and were callously murdered for it. No excuse can justify Taylor’s gruesome and brutal crimes, and a jury of his peers agreed with the prosecution. They swiftly found Taylor guilty on all counts and unanimously recommended death, and the trial judge accepted that recommendation."
Final hours and last words
Marshall added: "I commend my office’s incredible Capital Litigation Division for their dedication to this devastatingly grotesque case and for continuing the fight to give Ivan and Lucille the justice their lives deserved."
When asked if he had any last words at 5:50pm local time, before his execution, Taylor responded calmly, "No, sir." During his final 48 hours, prison officials said Taylor had 10 different visitors and phone calls with several people.
He refused breakfast, lunch, and dinner trays on Wednesday and Thursday. He also refused a request for a final meal but drank several sodas and ate a candy bar. The Alabama Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Taylor’s emergency motion for a stay of execution pending an appeal on November 4, the day before he was executed.
