In the early afternoon of a Tuesday in Ruston, Louisiana, the life of 38-year-old LaTonia Moore, a female resident, was tragically cut short. On March 7, 2023, Moore was shot and killed inside her home on Greene Lane. The incident was one of two separate shootings that occurred within close proximity and a short time frame of each other, prompting an intensive investigation by the Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office.
Within a day of the shooting, authorities identified 18-year-old Donovan
Hart as the suspect in Moore's death. Described as armed and dangerous, a public alert was issued as law enforcement began their search for the young man. The investigation into the motive for the shooting and any potential connection to the nearby shooting at Peachland Mobile Home Park, which resulted in one man being injured, was ongoing.
The search for Hart came to a close on Friday, March 10, 2023, when he was apprehended during a traffic stop in Simsboro, thanks to a tip from the public. Hart was subsequently charged with second-degree murder and booked into the Lincoln Parish Detention Center, with his bail set at one million dollars. In a further development, the driver of the vehicle during the traffic stop, Hart's father, 43-year-old Damesey J. Hart, was also arrested. He faced a charge of accessory after the fact to second-degree murder for allegedly aiding his son in evading capture.
Following the arrests, the legal process began to unfold. However, details regarding the subsequent trial, conviction, and sentencing of Donovan Hart for the murder of LaTonia Moore, and the outcome of the charge against his father, Damesey J. Hart, have not been publicly reported. The community was left to grapple with the sudden and violent loss of a resident, as the full conclusion to the tragic events of that March afternoon remained unresolved in the public record.
