1947 - 2003
Summary
Name:
Larry Eugene MoonYears Active:
1984Birth:
November 05, 1947Status:
ExecutedClass:
MurdererVictims:
1Method:
ShootingDeath:
March 25, 2003Nationality:
USA1947 - 2003
Summary: Murderer
Name:
Larry Eugene MoonStatus:
ExecutedVictims:
1Method:
ShootingNationality:
USABirth:
November 05, 1947Death:
March 25, 2003Years Active:
1984“I’m innocent, and I did not kill Ricky, I’ll add.”
— Larry Eugene Moon
Larry Eugene Moon was born on November 5, 1947.
On the night of November 24, 1984, Ricky Callahan left his wife at their home in Catoosa County, Georgia, and drove to a convenience store to buy headache medicine. He did not return home. The next morning, his body was found in a chert pit. He had been shot twice in the head. The headache medicine was still with his body, but his wallet, watch, and car were missing.
After the killing, police began searching for Callahan’s missing vehicle. On December 14, 1984, law enforcement officers arrested Larry Eugene Moon in Oneida, Tennessee. He was driving Callahan’s stolen car. Officers also found weapons in the vehicle, including the .22-caliber handgun later identified as the murder weapon.
The prosecution also presented evidence that Moon had been seen with Callahan’s wallet on the night of the killing. Although there were no eyewitnesses to the shooting itself, the state used the stolen car, the weapon, the wallet evidence, and other circumstances to connect Moon to the murder and robbery.
Moon was indicted in Catoosa County in March 1987 for murder and armed robbery. He went to trial in January 1988 and was convicted by a jury. He was sentenced to death for the murder of Ricky Callahan. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on direct appeal
Moon maintained his innocence. His lawyers and death-penalty opponents later argued that another man, Mickey Lee Davis, may have been responsible for Callahan’s death. They claimed Davis had confessed to several people and had a history of violent behavior. These claims became part of last-minute clemency arguments, but they did not stop the execution. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency, and the courts rejected final appeals.
Larry Eugene Moon was executed by lethal injection in Georgia on March 25, 2003. The Georgia Attorney General’s office stated that the execution was carried out at 7:23 p.m. after Moon had completed direct appeal, state habeas, and federal habeas proceedings.
