In the late hours of a Tuesday night in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Robert J. Moore, a 55-year-old man, was on a porch with family members at a home on Avondale Drive when gunfire erupted. It was September 20, 2016, and the gunshots that rang out just before 11 p.m. would tragically cut his life short. Responding officers, who were close enough to hear the shots, found Moore with gunshot wounds. Despite their efforts to provide first aid, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Allen County Coroner's Office later confirmed that his death was a homicide caused by gunshot wounds.
The investigation into the senseless killing soon revealed a case of mistaken identity. Authorities determined that the perpetrators were targeting a rival gang member and had tragically misidentified Moore as their intended victim. This led to the arrests of three individuals in connection with the fatal shooting: Derek R. Ford, Kahmarri Spencer, and Trevon Sullivan. The investigation was aided by a traffic stop conducted by the Fort Wayne gang unit a couple of days after the shooting, where Spencer was found with a gun magazine that matched shell casings from the crime scene.
In a plea deal, Derek R. Ford, who was 20 years old at the time of sentencing, admitted to his role in the shooting. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison. The other two men charged in Robert Moore's death, Kahmarri Spencer and Trevon Sullivan, were also scheduled for sentencing for their involvement in the tragic incident that claimed the life of an innocent man.
