Inset: Russell Antonio Moore (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The home where Moore allegedly beat his mother to death (WFLA).
A man, aged 36, from Florida was taken into custody after being accused of brutally killing his mother with a brick. Russell Antonio Moore was arrested and charged with premeditated first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection to the death of Shambray Lavern Levy. Court records examined by Law&Crime revealed the charges laid against him.
As per a probable cause affidavit, Moore called the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at around 8:22 a.m. on Dec. 9. During the call, he mentioned “being put down by lethal injection” and later confessed to having “put her down.” He identified the victim as his mother, Shambray Lavern Levy.
After receiving the call, first responders went to the residence located in the 8000 block of Beaty Grove Drive. Upon entering, they discovered Levy’s body lying on the floor, covered in blood-soaked blankets. Medical personnel noted signs of decomposition, with her body showing “visible marbling.”
A surveillance camera in the home allegedly recorded Moore killing Levy, attacking her inside the home at about 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 6. Investigators summarized the vicious six-minute attack as follows:
“The defendant grabs the victim from behind and throws her onto the tile floor before jumping on top of the victim and violently beating her head with his fists as well as wrapping his hands and arms around her neck and strangulating her. After a few minutes, the defendant lays the victim down and she is motionless on the tile floor face down. The defendant walks out of the [redacted] retrieves a gray in color concrete brick, walks back into the [redacted], stands over the victim and violently throws the brick down into the victim’s head twice. The victim remains motionless from that point forward.”
After killing his mother, Moore allegedly used a shovel to smash the surveillance camera.
One of Levy’s friends told authorities that she had told Levy to put a lock on her door after Levy confided in her about a previous domestic violence incident during which Moore allegedly struck her and threatened her with brass knuckles.
Moore’s sister told police that when she couldn’t get in touch with her mother earlier that morning, she called Moore, who told her, “It’s fine. It’s all been taken care of. They’ll just put me down [with] lethal injection,” the affidavit states.
A short while later, the sister allegedly told detectives that Levy had “recently inherited a substantial amount of money” after Levy’s mother passed away and planned on leaving some portion to Moore “in the event of her own death.”
In a post-Miranda interview, detectives asked Moore where he worked and he allegedly provided an odd response.
“The defendant stated, he lives a ‘normal free life now. Normal life. Till I get what belongs mine. My trust fund,’” he said, according to the affidavit.
Moore also allegedly made spontaneous statements about it being his “constitutional right” for “lethal injection” before requesting a lawyer.
Moore is currently being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday for a pretrial detention hearing, records show.
