On a tragic Thursday morning in Huntsville, Alabama, the life of 42-year-old Rene Moore was cut short in a violent act of domestic violence. On January 9, 2020, Moore was fatally shot in the parking lot of the Sunlake at Edgewater Apartments. Witnesses saw the shooting, which involved multiple fired shots. Despite being rushed to Huntsville Hospital with life-threatening injuries, she did not survive.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on her ex-boyfriend, 46-year-old Cornett Demetric Evans. The couple had been together for three years and had broken up about three months prior to the shooting. In the time leading up to her death, Moore's family stated that she was persistently harassed and tormented by Evans. The night before the fatal shooting, Huntsville police were called to Moore's home. Evans was there, wanting to retrieve some belongings, a visit her family believes was a pretext to continue his harassment.
Following the murder, a warrant was issued for Evans's arrest, and a statewide manhunt ensued. He was considered armed and had reportedly made threats to harm himself. Law enforcement, including the local and Marshals Task Force and the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, tracked him to a Super 8 motel in Birmingham. As officers attempted to make contact, they heard a gunshot from inside the room. Upon entry, they found Evans deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Rene Moore was remembered by her family as a loving mother of three and a hardworking engineer tech. Her sister indicated that Moore had intended to get a restraining order against Evans, but tragically, it was too late. The case brought local attention to the critical issue of domestic violence and the resources available to victims in abusive situations.
