A 25-year-old man from Indiana got into an argument with his girlfriend over a stimulus check that she received. His girlfriend worked hard at a small beauty supply shop so she could support her two kids and had just received a $1,400 stimulus check which was meant to help her and her family through the pandemic. But, the man, who is unemployed, and the father of Moore’s youngest child thought that he deserved half of the check.
“He wanted some of Jeanettrius’ tax money, stimulus money,” said Wendy Johnson, Moore’s cousin. Around 9:35 pm on Saturday, officers responded to a report of a shooting, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department press release said. Upon arrival, the cops found Moore with “injuries consistent with a gunshot wound,” and she was transported to the hospital in “critical condition,” police said.
There were also four casualties and the family identified the dead as Moore’s 7-year-old daughter, Eve Moore, her brother, 23-year-old Daquan Moore, her mother, 44-year-old Tomeeka Brown, and her cousin, 35-year-old Anthony Johnson. Investigators then said that Halfacre “allegedly fled the residence in a 2012 Chevrolet Impala” and “took six-month-old, Malia Halfacre.”
“Detectives believed Malia Halfacre was in danger,” police said. Thankfully on Sunday morning, the baby was “found safe and unharmed.” Johnson had heard from Moore the day before the shooting that “he wanted half of her money.”
“She said, ‘No, you don’t deserve any of this. I work. I take care of our child. You don’t do anything,’” Johnson recalled. He kept pestering Moore for the money and when she finally offered him $450, that was still not enough for him. He then reportedly vowed to get half of her money.
On Saturday evening, Moore was outside on the curb looking through her car when the man walked up to her. “She said he gave her an evil look and walked off,” said Johnson. “He came back.” When Halfacre came back a second time, he killed four of Moore’s relatives, critically injured the mother of his child, and then fled with the baby. “Malik came back in the house asking, ‘Where’s the money?’” said Johnson.
“Daquan was trying to save his sister. He was taking up for his sister,” said Johnson. “He stood up and said, ‘You cannot have the money. You cannot have her money.’ [Moore] pushed Malik, and Malik pulled out the gun and just started killing everybody. He shot Daquan first. He shot Anthony. He turned around, and he shot my Auntie Tomeeka. My Auntie Tomeeka said, ‘Malik!’ and he shot her again. He came back and shot Daquan for the second time and somewhere between little baby Eve got hit somewhere and she was screaming, she was screaming.”
Then, Halfacre took Moore and the infant to the car and after strapping the baby into a child safety seat, he reentered the house to get a milk bottle. “He went back in the house, and that’s when he shot Anthony again when he was coming down the steps,” said Johnson. “When he went in the house, that was Jeanettrius’ cue to run for her life, and that’s what she did. Ran for her life in traffic across New York Street and knocking on everyone’s doors.”
The scared woman hid on a neighbor’s porch until cops arrived while the man drove away with his infant daughter. When help finally arrived, she directed them to the home a block north, and that’s where the cops discovered the bodies. Around the same time, Lorenzo Moore walked in to find his brother and the rest of his family dead. “I seen all my family members in there on the floor dead,” said Lorenzo. “I could put the picture together of how everything went down and how everybody went.”
Halfacre was accused of shooting a man five times on the city’s northwest side in early 2017 but was released from custody in 2018 after pleading guilty to a lesser charge. Lorenzo says this happened only because they let a monster out of prison. Halfacre is now being held on preliminary murder, attempted murder, and robbery charges, according to the Marion County Jail records. A hearing had not been set as of Monday.