A 24-year-old man was charged with murder Saturday after six people—his father, brother, uncle, 7-year-old cousin, a church pastor, and the pastor's brother—were shot to death in three locations in northeastern Mississippi the night before, authorities said. Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said the slayings occurred in and around West Point, near the Alabama state line, NBC News reports. A possible motive for the shootings remains under investigation. "I don't know what kind of motive you could have to kill a 7-year-old," Scott said at a press conference Saturday, per the AP.
Dozens of local, state and federal officers flooded the area and arrested Daricka M. Moore at a roadblock in Cedarbluff just before midnight. He was being held without bail at the Clay County jail in West Point on murder charges before a scheduled court appearance on Monday. Investigators said Moore killed his father, 67-year-old Glenn Moore; his brother, 33-year-old Quinton Moore; and his uncle, 55-year-old Willie Ed Guines, at the family's mobile home on a dirt road in western Clay County. The sheriff said Moore then stole his brother's truck and drove to a cousin's house, where he forced his way in and attempted to commit sexual battery, then killed the child. Moore next drove to a small church, where he killed the Rev. Barry Bradley and Samuel Bradley and stole one of their vehicles, Scott said.
Online Clay County court records show Moore has no previous criminal charges, per the AP, and the sheriff said he "wasn't our radar." Scott said Moore's surviving relatives are overwhelmed with grief. "It was really hard to have conversations other than prayers with everybody out there," he said, adding, "this has really shaken our community."
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