After a failed self-defense argument for murdering his roommate in 2022, Christopher Moore pled guilty on Friday to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
On August 3, 2022, the Gulfport police responded to a pair of emergency calls detailing a stabbing on St. Charles Street. An investigation revealed that both calls came from the roommates of Moore, 44, and Darrell Parker, 63. The four were living together in a halfway house where they were recovering from drug addiction.
When officers arrived at the scene, Parker was found lifeless on the kitchen floor with multiple stab wounds to his head, back, and chest. A pair of broken knives were seen lying next to him, and another knife was found in a nearby garbage can. Eyewitnesses reported to police that Moore was seen holding Parker in a headlock, with one arm wrapped around the neck and the other stabbing Parker repeatedly.
Initially, Moore’s justification for the attack was self-defense. But evidence collected and analyzed by investigators proved otherwise. Moore later entered a plea of guilty to the charge of first-degree murder.
“You cannot take the law into your own hands,” Circuit Court Judge Lisa Dodson said to Moore before sentencing him to life in prison.
Under Mississippi law, life in prison is the only sentence available on the charge of first-degree murder. Moore will spend the remainder of his days in custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
“I am so very sorry, Your Honor,” Moore said after the sentencing. “I wish I could sit down with this man’s family and give them closure. I wish I could relive that day.”
