U.S. Marshals Arrest Mississippi Man Wanted for Multiple Homicides, Including 7-Year-Old Girl

Washington, DC -  On Jan. 9 the Clay County (Mississippi) Sheriff’s Department requested assistance from the U.S. Marshals (USMS) Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force in locating and arresting a man wanted for multiple homicides that occurred in Clay County on the same evening, including the murder of a 7-year-old child.

Members of the USMS Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Northern District of Mississippi responded immediately to find Daricka Moore, 24, charged with first-degree murder, who allegedly killed six people in three different locations in the Cedarbluff community of Clay County. 

Witnesses said they saw Moore leaving one of the locations driving a deceased victim’s pickup truck, which was later located abandoned in a church parking lot in the Cedarbluff community. This led investigators to believe Moore was possibly on foot in the area, and a perimeter with multiple safety checkpoints was set up in the area to locate him. These checkpoints consisted of law enforcement from the Clay County Sheriff’s Department, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

At approximately 11 p.m., law enforcement encountered a white GMC Acadia at one of the checkpoints. The driver did not have any identification and refused to provide law enforcement officers with his name. The driver was asked to exit the vehicle while officers attempted to identify him. The driver was identified as wanted fugitive Moore by comparing his Mississippi driver’s license photo while on the scene. 

Moore was arrested and transported to the Clay County Jail by members of the Clay County Sheriff’s Department.

Officers found a Glock model 36 pistol in the vehicle Moore was driving. The vehicle was later determined to belong to one of the murdered victims from the third scene. 

Additional charges are expected to be filed against Moore.

Formed July 1, 2006, the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force mission is to locate and apprehend fugitives, with priority given to fugitives wanted for violent crime. With its primary office in Birmingham, Alabama, the GCRFTF operates throughout Alabama and Mississippi. Since its inception the GCRFTF has arrested more than 74,000 fugitives.