A Florida man, aged 36, was apprehended after he was purportedly recorded on video savagely murdering his mother with a brick. The man, identified as Russell Antonio Moore, then reportedly informed an emergency dispatcher that he had “put her down.” Moore was arrested on Monday and faces charges of premeditated first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with a capital felony. According to court documents examined, the victim was identified as Shambray Lavern Levy, Moore’s mother.
The arrest was made following a call Moore made to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on the morning of Dec. 9. During the call, Moore made cryptic statements about “being put down by lethal injection,” before revealing, “There’s a dead body here” and “I put her down.” He identified himself and named the victim as his mother, Shambray Lavern Levy.
Upon reaching the residence on Beaty Grove Drive, first responders, concerned for the victim’s safety, entered the house to perform a welfare check. Inside, they discovered Levy’s body on the floor, covered in blood-soaked blankets. The body showed signs of “visible marbling” and appeared to be in the early stages of decomposition.
A home surveillance camera allegedly captured Moore’s brutal attack on Levy, which occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 6. The footage reportedly shows a six-minute assault where Moore throws Levy onto the floor, jumps on top of her, and violently beats her head with his fists. He also appears to strangle her. After rendering her motionless, Moore allegedly retrieves a concrete brick and strikes Levy’s head twice. Following the murder, Moore is believed to have used a shovel to destroy the surveillance camera.
A friend of Levy’s informed authorities that she had previously advised Levy to secure her door with a lock after Levy confided in her about a past domestic violence incident. During this incident, Moore allegedly assaulted her and threatened her with brass knuckles.
Moore’s sister revealed to police that she had been unable to contact her mother that morning. When she reached out to Moore, he reassured her, saying, “It’s fine. It’s all been taken care of. They’ll just put me down [with] lethal injection.” The sister also shared with detectives that Levy had recently come into a significant inheritance following the death of Levy’s mother. Levy had intended to leave a portion of this inheritance to Moore upon her own death.
During a post-Miranda interview, detectives questioned Moore about his employment. His response was peculiar, stating that he was living a “normal free life now. Normal life. Till I get what belongs mine. My trust fund.” Moore also made unsolicited comments about his “constitutional right” for “lethal injection” before asking for a lawyer.
Moore is currently being held without bail and is set to appear in court on Friday for a pretrial detention hearing.