Death of Sean Kennedy

Death of Sean Kennedy
LocationGreenville, South Carolina
DateMay 16, 2007
Attack type
Gay bashing
VictimsSean Kennedy

Sean W. Kennedy (April 8, 1987 – May 16, 2007) was a gay American man who was severely punched by a younger man, Stephen Andrew Moller as Kennedy was leaving a bar in Greenville, South Carolina. The punch was so hard that it shattered his facial bones and separated his brain from his brain stem. Kennedy died 17 hours later of his fatal injuries.[1][2][3] This attack and Kennedy's death drew attention to South Carolina's lack of a hate crime law and is believed to have contributed to passage of the federal Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2009, for which his mother lobbied. Additionally, Moller served so little time "because of the lack of an applicable Violent Crime Law in South Carolina" at the time, according to the Judge, although this explanation was seen by the LGBT community as merely thinly veiled homophobia.

Stephen Andrew Moller pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in causing Kennedy's death. He was sentenced to five years, suspended to three years and counting time already served. He was released on parole July 1, 2009.

  1. ^ Smith, Gordon (2007-05-22). "Speech on The Matthew Shepard Act". Congressional Record. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
  2. ^ Anderson, Claire (2007-06-03). "Family of dead man lobbies for hate-crime bill". The Greenville News. Retrieved 2007-06-15. [dead link]
  3. ^ "Who Was Sean William Kennedy?". Sean's Last Wish Foundation. Archived from the original on 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2007-06-15.