Victim's Sexuality Deemed Not Motive for Deadly Punch

The man accused of killing gay South Carolinian Sean Kennedy in May will not be tried for a hate crime, the Greenville News reported Saturday, and not just because the state does not have a hate-crimes statute.

"Through an extensive investigation I found that the defendant did not strike the victim because he was a homosexual," investigator Paul Silvaggio testified in a Greenville County circuit court bond hearing, according to the newspaper. "It was only later that he knew the victim was a homosexual."

A $25,000 bond and home detention were set for Stephen Andrew Moller, 19, who was indicted for involuntary manslaughter. The initial warrant charging Moller with murder indicated that the defendant acted out of a dislike for gay people. Moller turned himself in.

The investigator said Friday that as Kennedy was leaving a Greenville-area nightclub, he stood alongside a car in which Moller was seated. Kennedy reached inside the car to hand the driver a cigarette, but when Moller moved to change the radio station, Kennedy touched his face. Moller got out of the car and hit Kennedy in the face. Kennedy then fell and hit his head on the pavement, an injury that proved fatal. (The Advocate)