Indy man sentenced in mass shooting over stimulus check
INDIANAPOLIS — A man charged with killing three adults and a 7-yearold girl following an argument over a stimulus check in 2021 has been ordered to spend more than a century behind bars after entering a plea to the killings, according to court documents.
Malik Halfacre, 28, was sentenced Friday in Marion Superior Court to 145 years in state prison after pleading guilty to four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in connection with the mass shooting. Halfacre’s agreement with prosecutors capped his sentence to 180 years, with terms over how he would serve the time being left up to the court. He earned three years in time-served since his arrest.
The state dismissed Halfacre’s charges of armed robbery, illegally carrying a handgun and auto theft as part of the agreement.
“We are thankful for the dignity, grace, and patience the family and the survivor have shown throughout such an unimaginably difficult process,” Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a prepared statement following the hearing. “The defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison and this resolution provides finality to the criminal matter, as our community continues to heal from this horrific tragedy.”
Court documents reveal the shooting stemmed from an argument over a stimulus check between Halfacre and his girlfriend. Halfacre fired at everyone in the room, killing 23-year-old Dequan Moore; Tomeeka Brown, 44; Anthony Johnson, 35, and Eve Moore, 7 – his girlfriend’s daughter.
His girlfriend, Jeanettrius Moore, was also shot during the attack and survived.
Halfacre then took her purse and car and fleeing the home, in the 300 block of North Randolph Street.
Indianapolis police located Halfacre hiding in an attic of his friend’s home and took him into custody after hours of negotiation with SWAT.
Less than a year before the killing, Halfacre is accused of firing at least seven bullets at Moore’s unoccupied car during a dispute – one of the cases at the center of an IndyStar investigation into Indiana’s red flag law.
The law allows police to seize firearms from people who present a danger to themselves or others. Authorities did not leverage the law against Halfacre at the time. Moore told IndyStar the same firearm was later used to kill her family.
The case was also among the three mass shooting events in the city that year.
Contact reporter Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com