Daricka M. Moore: Charges, Victims, and Death Penalty

Daricka M. Moore is a 24-year-old Clay County, Mississippi man charged with killing six people, including a seven-year-old girl, during a shooting rampage across three homes in Cedarbluff on the evening of January 9, 2026. The Mississippi shooting attributed to Daricka Moore left three of his own relatives, a young second cousin, and two brothers who were family friends dead within a few hours. Moore has pleaded not guilty to all eleven felony charges and is being held without bail while prosecutors pursue the death penalty.¹

What Happened That Night

The shootings began shortly before 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 9, 2026, at a home on David Hill Road. Authorities say Moore shot and killed his father Glenn Moore, 67; his brother Quinten Moore, 33; and his uncle Willie Ed Guines, 55.²

Moore then allegedly took his dead brother’s Ford F-150 and drove to a home on Blake Road. According to Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott, Moore forced his way inside, attempted to sexually assault his seven-year-old second cousin Mikiylia Guines, and then shot her in the head.³ Investigators say he also tried to kill another child in the home during the attack.⁴

The third stop was a home on Siloam-Griffith Road. Deputies later found the bodies of Barry Bradley, 63, and his brother Samuel Bradley, 61. Barry was the pastor of the Apostolic Church of the Lord Jesus in Cedarbluff, a church he had helped build. Some of Moore’s relatives attended that church, but authorities said they had not established a clear connection between Moore and the Bradleys.²

The Arrest

Dozens of local, state, and federal officers set up safety checkpoints across the Cedarbluff area after the shootings. Around 11:00 p.m., officers at one checkpoint stopped a white GMC Acadia whose driver refused to identify himself and had no ID. They matched his face to his Mississippi driver’s license and confirmed it was Moore. A Glock model 36 pistol was recovered from the vehicle and later traced to a victim from the Siloam-Griffith Road scene.⁵

Sheriff Scott said the arrest, at the intersection of Pine Grove Road and Joe Myers Road at 11:24 p.m., happened “without incident.”⁶ Moore was taken to the Clay County Jail in West Point. Scott said Moore had no prior charges in Clay County and “was not on our radar.”⁷

Who the Victims Were

Three of the six people killed were Moore’s immediate family: his father Glenn Moore, 67; his brother Quinten Moore, 33; and his uncle Willie Ed Guines, 55. All three died at the David Hill Road home where the rampage started.⁸

Mikiylia Alexandria Guines was seven and a first-grader at Church Hill Elementary School in West Point. She was Moore’s second cousin. Her mother, LaShanna Guines, witnessed the killing in front of Mikiylia’s siblings.⁴

Barry Bradley, 63, and Samuel Bradley, 61, were brothers and members of the church Barry pastored. Both were described as family friends of the Moores, though investigators have not publicly explained why they were targeted.⁹

The Charges

On Monday, January 12, 2026, Moore appeared before Clay County Circuit Court Judge James Kitchens and pleaded not guilty to all eleven felony charges.¹⁰ The counts are:

Three counts of capital murder, for Mikiylia Guines and the Bradley brothers
Three counts of first-degree murder, for Glenn Moore, Quinten Moore, and Willie Ed Guines, which prosecutors have said are expected to be upgraded to capital murder
One count of attempted murder of a child
One count of attempted sexual battery
One count of burglary of a dwelling
Two counts of felony taking of a motor vehicle

Judge Kitchens denied bond, citing the capital murder charges, which make a defendant ineligible for bail under Mississippi law. He also ordered a mental health evaluation before any preliminary hearing. Moore was appointed a public defender, Clarissa Harris.¹¹

Death Penalty and What Comes Next

District Attorney Scott Colom announced quickly that his office would seek the death penalty if Moore is found mentally competent. “Typically, I would consult with the victims and wait down the line,” Colom told reporters, “but there’s some cases that they’ve got to get the worst punishment. Six people, one night, several different scenes. You’ve heard the allegations, they’re about as bad as it gets.”¹ A capital murder conviction in Mississippi can carry the death penalty, life without parole, or life with the possibility of parole.¹²

Authorities have not publicly established a motive. “I don’t know what kind of motive you could have to kill a seven-year-old,” Sheriff Scott said the day after the shootings.² At his arraignment, when a WTVA reporter asked Moore why he killed six people, he reportedly answered, “It was 13.” Authorities have not addressed the remark.¹⁰

No trial date has been set. The court-ordered mental health evaluation will determine whether Moore is competent to stand trial, which must happen before the case can move forward. If the three first-degree murder counts are upgraded as prosecutors have indicated, Moore would face capital charges for all six killings.

1
SuperTalk Mississippi. Clay County Mass Shooting Suspect Pleads Not Guilty as Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty
2
The Guardian. Mississippi Six Murders
3
Politico. Six People Killed in Mississippi Rampage Including Seven-Year-Old Girl
4
Mississippi Today. Bond Denied Clay County
5
U.S. Marshals Service. U.S. Marshals Arrest Mississippi Man Wanted for Multiple Homicides
6
Commercial Dispatch. Law Enforcement Reveals Details of a Shooting Spree Spanning Three Houses
7
WMTW. Six Killed in Mississippi Mass Shooting
8
ABC News. Suspect Arrested After Six Killed Including Child in Mississippi
9
Commercial Dispatch. Samuel Bradley Obituary
10
MPB Online. Clay County Man Accused of Killing Six Including Child Faces Capital Murder Charges
11
Commercial Dispatch. Cedarbluff Shooting Spree Suspect Pleads Not Guilty
12
FindLaw. Mississippi Code Section 97-3-21