INDIANAPOLIS — A mass murderer who took the lives of four people, including a young child, all because he wanted the mother of his child’s stimulus check will serve the rest of his life behind bars after being handed down a 145-year prison sentence.
Malik Halfacre, 28, pleaded guilty last month to four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after he opened fire on the mother of his child, Jeanettrius Moore, and her family while rooting through her purse for her stimulus check.
“He said, ‘I’m gonna get that money,'” a family member recounted.
Halfacre would end up turning his gun on Moore, her 23-year-old brother Daquan Moore, her 44-year-old mother Tomeeka Brown, her 35-year-old Cousin Anthony Johnson and her 7-year-old daughter Eve Moore.
Jeanettrius Moore would survive the shooting, but the rest of her family was killed by Halfacre in cold blood — including young Eve.
After the shooting, Jeanettrius hid on a neighbor’s porch until IMPD officers arrived while Halfacre took the pair’s baby and drove away.
“He told her that she made him kill everybody,” recounted Wendy Johnson, a cousin who heard Jeanettrius’ account of what led up to the quadruple murder in the home in the 300 block of Randolph Street.
Halfacre ended up dropping the 6-month-old child he shared with Jeanettrius at his sister’s home before heading to a friends house. He was arrested after a prolonged SWAT standoff.
Halfacre was known to have a history of violence, allegedly shooting a man multiple times in 2017 but pleading down in court to a lesser charge of pointing a firearm. He only spent a few months in jail.
“She was afraid to leave him because she didn’t have faith in the system,” said a family member.
“She had just got her ($1,400 stimulus check), and he wanted half of her money,” Johnson said.
In March, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears floated out the death penalty as an option for Halfacre. A few months later, in June, Halfacre pleaded guilty to his most serious charges.
As part of the agreement, the lesser charges of armed robbery, felon carrying a handgun and auto theft were dismissed. On Friday, a judge handed down Halfacre’s 145-year prison sentence.
“We are thankful for the dignity, grace, and patience the family and the survivor have shown throughout such an unimaginably difficult process,” Mears stated. “The defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison and this resolution provides finality to the criminal matter, as our community continues to heal from this horrific tragedy.”
