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Story courtest of Policelink.com

Caravan Will Accompany Officer's Widow to Killer's Execution

The Dallas Morning News via YellowBrix
January 07, 2010

GARLAND, TX – A busload of Garland police officers and their spouses will join a caravan of cars heading to Huntsville today for the scheduled execution of Kenneth Mosley.

Mosley, 51, killed Garland Officer Michael “David” Moore nearly 13 years ago during a failed bank robbery.
His execution was delayed twice last year, forcing the officer’s family, friends and colleagues to scuttle plans for the 350-mile round trip.

“Everybody’s been pretty quiet since we got the latest execution date,” said Officer Joe Harn, a spokesman for the Garland Police Department. “We think this one will be it.”
Moore’s wife and three children will join the caravan.

“We don’t know what to expect. This is all new to us,” said Sheila Moore, the officer’s widow.

As relatives began arriving at her home earlier in the week, there were other things to worry about, such as shuttling people from the airport and picking up extra groceries.

“Right now, I’m mainly concerned about the kids and the car,” Moore said with a laugh. “It’s all going to happen, one way or the other.”

Moore’s colleagues on the police force said they will be looking for closure when Mosley finally dies from a lethal injection sometime after 6 p.m. today.

“It’s been a long time, waiting for this day,” Harn said. “It’s pretty emotional for everyone to have it finally happen.”

The execution has forced the people who knew David Moore to recall what happened on Feb. 15, 1997, the day he was killed at a Bank One branch on West Centerville Road in Garland.

Moore was one of three officers who responded to a “suspicious person” call from a bank employee. While the other officers waited outside, Moore entered the bank and was directed toward Mosley, standing in a teller’s line.

Witnesses said Mosley was behaving strangely, breathing loudly and almost growling as he was standing there. Several employees had recognized him as the man who previously robbed the bank.

Moore came up behind Mosley and asked him to show his hands. A scuffle ensued, during which Mosley pulled a gun from his pocket and the two men crashed through a window.

Five shots rang out and Moore, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, never got up. Mosley was trying to run away from the bank when another Garland officer shot him in the wrist. He was taken into custody without incident.

Moore was airlifted to Baylor University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. He was 32 years old and had served nearly 10 years on the Garland force.

At a week-long trial later that year, Mosley would argue that he was simply trying to hand over his gun when it fired five times. The shooting was accidental, he insisted. But the jury didn’t buy it and found him guilty of capital murder after deliberating only 45 minutes. It took half an hour to decide on the death penalty.

Jason January, the Dallas County prosecutor in the case, recalled watching the bank’s videotape of the skirmish and said what happened was as clear as day.

“The officer gave Mosley every chance to give up peacefully,” said January, who is now in private practice. “David Moore was as professional as he could be.”

That memory makes it easier to accept Mosley’s execution by the state, January said.

“If I was a family member watching Mosley die, I would be thinking about the terrible thing that he did to a police officer,” he said. “It didn’t have to happen that way.”