Daughter Accused In Soldier Slaying
The victim, 42-year-old Karen Moore, was shot at her Braselton home on Sahale Falls Drive on Wednesday evening, Braselton police said.
Moore was on active duty with the U.S. Army and served under the recruitment command stationed in Georgia. Police said she was sitting on a sofa facing her television when she was shot in the back of the head.
“They give their lives to fight overseas in areas like Iraq and Afghanistan, and then, they are home, where they feel safe, and then, something happens that is not supposed to happen,” Braselton Asst. Police Chief Lou Solis told Channel 2s Erica Byfield.
Police said the teen invited her boyfriend, 17-year-old Christopher Nieves, over after the shooting. He was charged with statutory rape after admitting to having sex with the Moore’s daughter.
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Solis said the 15-year-old went outside and tried to start her car, but it wouldnt work. He said the day after the shooting, she asked a neighbor to jump start her vehicle and told the neighbor she could not get her mother to wake up.
Officers arrived between 3 to 4 p.m. Thursday after the neighbor called 911. Georgia Bureau of Investigation and ATF officials also assisted in the investigation. Solis said they interviewed the daughter and Nieves, but their stories didnt match up. He said there were also other red flags.
We found the shell casing, and thats what threw us off a little bit. There was no weapon, Solis said.
Authorities eventually found a gun and Moore’s purse in the 15-year-old’s car, Solis said. After hours of interviews, the daughter confessed to firing the gun, Solis said. Police wanted to make it clear that she did not admit to killing her mother. Solis said the shooting may have stemmed from a dispute between the daughter and her mother over the 15-year-olds relationship with an older teen.
The daughter faces murder and aggravated assault charges. The Jackson County District Attorney will determine if she will be charged as an adult. She was being held at the Gwinnett County Juvenile Detention Center.
Moore also leaves behind a husband and a son, who both serve in the military.
