Demonstrators voice opinions on death penalty during Carey Dean Moore execution

About a dozen people showed up at the Nebraska State Penitentiary Tuesday afternoon to voice their opinions on the death penalty during the execution of death row inmate Carey Dean Moore. 

"It’s definitely a moral issue," death penalty opponent Matthew Rehwaldt said. "As a citizen of this state, the state derives it’s power from the citizens, and as one of the citizens, I feel like it’s my duty and responsibility to come out and say, ‘Not for me.’"

A representative for the group Nebraskans For Alternatives To The Death Penalty, Matt Maly, says he wants to see the death penalty done away with.

"Nebraskans across the state are opposed to what is happening here today," Maly said. "The much better alternative is to lock them up and throw away the key. If that had happened 40 years ago, none of us would be here today and we wouldn’t even remember this man’s name."

Vivian Tuttle says she became a death penalty advocate after her 37-year-old daughter, Evonne, was shot and killed during the infamous Norfolk bank robbery in 2002. 

That shooting was carried out by three current death row inmates: Jose Sandoval, Erick Vela and Jorge Galindo.

Tuttle says she showed up Tuesday to be a voice for the families of the victims of death row inmates. 

"I support the families of all the victims," she said. "There are 12 people on death row, and there are lots of victims."

About 40 members of the Nebraska State Patrol, Lincoln Police Department and the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office were on the grounds to keep order. 

The protests remained peaceful the entire time. 

Carey Dean Moore’s execution comes almost four decades after he was convicted of murdering two Omaha cab drivers in 1979. 

The Attorney General’s Office says Jose Sandoval was given notice that he is next in line to be executed, but no date for an execution has been given at this time.