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Man Allegedly Shot His Child's Mother, Killed 4 In Her Family Amid Stimulus Money Dispute
"Why did he shoot you?" a neighbor asked Jeanettrius Moore. “Her exact words were ‘stimulus money.’”
An Indianapolis man is accused of shooting several family members to death this weekend amid a dispute over the latest stimulus payment being issued by the federal government.
Malik Halfacre, 25, is accused of shooting and wounding the mother of his child, Jeanettrius Moore, on Saturday, after the couple had a dispute over splitting up the latest relief payment. Halfacre is also accused of shooting four of Moore’s family members to death, including her daughter, brother, mother, and a cousin, at their Indianapolis home on Saturday.
Law enforcement was dispatched to the house on the 300 block of North Randolph Street around 9:35 p.m. on March 13 after shots broke out, they said. Eve Moore, 7, Daquan Moore, 23, Tomeeka Brown, 44, and Anthony Johnson, 35, were found shot dead inside the home, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Jeanettrius Moore was injured but survived.
Halfacre had fled the scene after the incident, having taken his and Jeanettrius Moore six-month-old girl with him, according to police. An Amber Alert had initially been issued following the infant’s disappearance, and the child was found safe the following day.
Halfacre was arrested by homicide detectives on Sunday after being taken in handcufs from the attic of a home on the city's east side following an hours-long stand-off with a SWAT team, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said.
Moore’s relatives confirmed the shooting was fueled by an argument over “stimulus money,” or the latest round of government payments issued to provide financial relief to millions of Americans and jumpstart the U.S. economy amid the ongoing pandemic.
“He wanted some of Jeanettrius’ tax money, stimulus money,” Wendy Johnson, a family member, told WXIN. “She said, No, you don’t deserve any of this. I work. I take care of our child. You don’t do anything.”
Halfacre was offered $450 by Moore, the outlet reported; she'd told him, “take it or leave it,” Johnson said.
“He said, ‘I’m gonna get that money,’” Johnson added. “This was the day before...“She said he gave her an evil look and walked off. He came back.”
Jeanettrius Moore’s brother, Daquan Moore, was the first to be shot dead, relatives said.
“He shot Daquan first,” Wendy Johnson said. “He shot Anthony. He turned around, and he shot my auntie Tomeeka. My aunt Tomeeka said, ‘Malik!’ and he shot her again.”
Lorenzo Moore, another relative, said he'd stumbled into the home and witnessed the aftermath of the carnage.
“I saw all my family members in there on the floor, dead,” he told WXIN. “I could put the picture together of how everything went down and how everybody went.”
Jeanettrius Moore managed to escape the home and sprinted over to an adjacent property. She reportedly hid on a neighbor’s porch until authorities arrived.
“I was sitting right here in my chair,” Craig Jackson, who was at the adjacent property, told WISH. “I hear a loud bang on the door; bam, bam, bam, bam. I get up. I said, ‘Who is it?' She said, ‘Can you help me? I have been shot.'”
Jackson said she'd told him that the shooting had been triggered by a financial feud.
“I said, ‘Why did he shoot you?’” he told the station. “And her exact words were ‘stimulus money’ … Her exact words were, ‘I am the only one who got away. He killed the rest of them.’ Those were her exact words.”
Family members described Tomeeka Brown as a loving mother known for her sense of humor.
“Her whole life was her kids — period,” Shawn Brown said. “That’s all she knew.”
Marion County prosecutors will review the case and make the final charging decision, according to a release from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
