A 24-year-old Mississippi man was arrested after authorities said he killed six people across three locations during a Friday night rampage, including a 7-year-old girl, the Associated Press reported.
Daricka M. Moore was taken into custody at a police roadblock in Cedarbluff just before midnight, authorities said. Clay County officials said Moore was being held without bail at the Clay County jail in West Point on murder charges and was expected to have an initial appearance Monday before a judge.
Clay County District Attorney Scott Colom said he expects to pursue the death penalty. Colom told The Associated Press that Moore would likely be appointed a public defender at that time, and that if charges are upgraded to capital murder before then, Moore would be ineligible for bail under state law.
At a Saturday news conference, Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said evidence and witnesses indicate Moore was the only shooter and that no other injuries have been reported. Scott said investigators were continuing to interview Moore but do not currently know what may have motivated him.
“A situation like this, you’ve got a family member attacking their own family,” Scott said. “Whatever the reason is, we’re hoping that we’ll find out.”
Authorities said the shootings unfolded in a rural area of fields, woods and mostly modest homes about 125 miles (200 kilometers) northeast of Jackson. Investigators believe Moore first killed Glenn Moore, 67, his brother, Quinton Moore, 33, and his uncle, 55-year-old Willie Ed Guines, at the family’s mobile home on a dirt road in western Clay County.
Scott said Moore then stole his brother’s truck and drove a few miles to a cousin’s house, where he forced his way in and attempted to commit sexual battery. Scott said Moore then put a gun to the head of the 7-year-old cousin, whom he declined to identify, and fatally shot her.
Scott said Moore placed a gun against the head of a younger child, but the child was not shot, adding that it was not clear whether Moore did not pull the trigger or whether the gun misfired. The mother and a third child were also present, Scott said.
Authorities said Moore later drove to a church, the Apostolic Church of The Lord Jesus, and broke into a residence there. Scott said he killed the pastor and the pastor’s brother, Rev. Barry Bradley and Samuel Bradley, and stole one of their vehicles.
Scott said Bradley and his brother lived most of the time in nearby Columbus but spent weekends on church grounds, and that some members of the Moore family attend the church. He said Moore was caught at a roadblock at 11:24 p.m. near where the second shooting occurred, four-and-a-half hours after the first call came in.
Colom said Moore had a rifle and a handgun, and Scott said officers were investigating where Moore obtained the guns. The state medical examiner was performing autopsies on the victims, Scott said.
Scott said Moore’s surviving relatives are overwhelmed with grief, and that conversations with them had mostly been prayers. “It was really hard to have conversations other than prayers with everybody out there,” he said, adding that “this has really shaken our community.”
Colom, a Democrat seeking his party’s nomination this year to run against Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith, said he is confident his office has the resources to prosecute Moore and that pursuing the death penalty is the right thing to do. “Six people, one night, several different scenes, it’s about as bad as it gets,” Colom said.