Man who killed 4 after dispute over stimulus check gets 145 years in prison

An Indianapolis man who killed four people, including a child, after a dispute with his girlfriend over a coronavirus stimulus check was sentenced Friday to 145 years in prison.

The man, Malik Halfacre, 28, pleaded guilty in June to four murder counts in the March 2021 shooting deaths of Eve Moore, 7; Dequan Moore, 23; Anthony Johnson, 35; and Tomeeka Brown, 44, in Indianapolis. He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Jeanettrius Moore, then his girlfriend, whom police say Halfacre shot multiple times. The four people killed were relatives of Moore.

Judge Jeffrey Marchal of Marion Superior Court sentenced Halfacre to two consecutive 57-year prison terms for the murder counts and a 31-year prison term for the attempted murder count, according to court records.

On the night of March 13, 2021, police received a report of a person shot inside an Indianapolis home.

The victim was Jeanettrius Moore, who had fled to a neighbor's home after being shot. Before she was taken to a hospital, Moore told police that there were multiple victims inside her home. She told them that Halfacre had fled and taken their 6-month-old daughter.

Police eventually found the young girl at Halfacre's sister's home. They arrested Halfacre the next day after an hourslong standoff at a friend's home, where he was hiding.

Halfacre later told investigators that he and Moore had been arguing because he "wanted some of her stimulus check," according to a probable cause affidavit.

Halfacre also said that he had shot everyone in his girlfriend's home and then stole her purse and fled in her car with their daughter, the affidavit said. He told police that he had dropped their daughter off at his sister's house.

As part of the deal under which Halfacre pleaded guilty, related charges of armed robbery, auto theft and illegal possession of a handgun were dropped.