Stephen Moller, who murdered Sean Kennedy on May 16, 2007, was sentenced June 11 to a five-year suspended sentence to three years with three years probation after he gets out of jail. He will spend about 10 months in jail, after which he is then entitled to parole. If granted, he will then be on probation for three years. Moller was also sentenced to 30 days community service, ordered to take anger management classes and undergo alcohol and drug counseling.
Sean’s mother, Elke Kennedy, 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 South Carolina 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 juries. 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 one 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 want justice. This could have happened to anybody’s son, daughter, brother or sister. 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, holidays, 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!