Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Reexamining the killing of William Moore, who walked alone through Alabama for equal rights | Crime Alert 6AM 03.17.26

Transcript

Reexamining the killing of William Moore, who walked alone through Alabama for equal rights | Crime Alert 6AM 03.17.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Crime Alert. I'm John Lemley. We begin this hour with
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: a civil rights era murder that has been never fully solved,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: the killing of William Lewis Moore. Moore was a thirty
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: five year old postal worker and civil rights activist who
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: set out on a solitary protest march in April of
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three. His plan was to walk from Chattanooga, Tennessee,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: to Jackson, Mississippi, to deliver a letter urging the governor
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: to support racial integration. Moore, a member of the Congress
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of Racial Equality, carried signs reading equal Rights for All
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: and Mississippi or Bust as he walked south along highways
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: through Alabama. But on April twenty third, nineteen sixty three,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: his march ended in violence. Moore was found shot to
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: death along US Highway eleven near Attalla, Alabama. Investigators determined
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: he had been killed by gunfire from a twenty two
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: caliber rifle. Authorities quickly identified as suspect a local man
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: named Floyd Simpson. The rifle believed to have been used
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: in the shooting was traced back to Simpson, who reportedly
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: had ties to the Ku Klux Klan, but despite those findings,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: a grand jury in Edwa County declined to indict Simpson
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: later that year, citing insufficient evidence. Moore's murder became one
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: of many unsolved crimes of the civil rights era. In
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: the days following the killing, activists from the Student Nonviolent
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Coordinating Committee attempted to finish Moore's march, but they were
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: beaten and arrested by Alabama state troopers. More than sixty
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: years later, historians and researchers continue to revisit the case,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: examining records and eyewitness accounts in hopes of shedding new
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: light on the circumstances surrounding War's death. For many civil
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: rights historians, Moore's story represents both the courage of individual
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: activism and the violence that confronted those pushing for equality
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: in the early ninetyen sixties. Still ahead this hour, a
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: deadly prank involving high school students in Georgia, a double
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: murder suspect whose flight delayed one of golf's biggest tournaments,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: and federal extortion charges against a New York lobbyist.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Thanks John for the latest crime and justice news. Go
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: to crime online dot com and please join us for
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: our daily podcast Crime Stories. More crime and justice news
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: After this now with the latest crime and justice breaking news.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Crime Onlines.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: John Limley, a prosecutor in Georgia, has dropped criminal charges
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: against a teenager initially accused in the death of a
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: beloved high school teacher during what authorities described as a
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: prank gone wrong. The case centers on the death of
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Jason Hughes, a forty year old teacher from Gainesville, Georgia.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Authority say Hughes died after a group of teenagers arrived
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: late at night outside his home and began wrapping trees
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: with toilet paper, a longste ending prank tradition connected to
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: prom season. Investigator say Hughes came outside as the teens
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: were leaving. At that moment, Hughes slipped on the pavement
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: and fell onto the street. He was struck by a
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: pickup truck driven by Jaden Ryan Wallace, an eighteen year
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: old student. Hughes later died at a hospital from his injuries.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Wallace was initially charged with felony vehicular homicide, while four
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: other students faced misdemeanor charges for trespassing and littering, but
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: prosecutors later dropped all charges after hughes family publicly urged
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: authorities not to pursue the case, saying the teacher had
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: cared deeply about the students involved. Officials save the teenagers
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: stopped immediately after the incident and attempted to render aid
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: until emergency crews arrived. The case has drawn attention across
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: the community, where Hughes was widely remembered as a mentor
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: and coach who dedicated much of his life to helping students.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Authorities in flora As say a deadly shooting near one
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: of the biggest events in professional golf triggered a mass
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: manhunt that briefly disrupted the player's championship. Investigators say Christian
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Barrios is accused of shooting two people in the parking
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: lot of a Walgreens near the TPC Sawgrass golf course
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: in Pontevedra Beach. According to the Saint John's County Sheriff's Office,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: the shooting appeared to stem from a domestic dispute. Both
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: victims were transported to a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: but later died from their injuries. After the shooting, authority
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: say Barrios fled onto the nearby TPC Sawgrass property, where
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: canine units began tracking him through areas close to the
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: tournament grounds. At one point during the search, investigators say
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: the suspect picked up a PGA Tour radio before discarding
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: it and stealing a black BMW. The chase ended roughly
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: an hour north of the golf course in Nassau County,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: where deputies forced the stolen car off the sad road.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Barrios then fled on foot, but was captured shortly afterward.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Because of the search operation, officials delayed opening the gates
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: for spectators at the Players Championship as a precaution. The
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: tournament itself proceeded on schedule later that morning. Authorities say Barrios,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: who turned thirty two on the day of his arrest,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: has an extensive criminal history, and finally, federal prosecutors in
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: New York have charged a lobbyist with attempted extortion in
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: a case involving an alleged five hundred thousand dollars payment demand.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Authorities say Joshua Nas, a thirty four year old attorney
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: and lobbyist, was arrested and charged in federal court in Brooklyn.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Prosecutors say Nas attempted to force a former client and
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: the client's son to pay him half a million dollars
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: that he claimed was owed for lobbying services. According to
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: court documents, Nas allegedly recruited what investigators described as a
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: confidential witness to act as an enforcer in the u
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: S scheme. That person was allegedly directed to intimidate the
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: client's son, and prosecutors say NAS discuss possible threats that
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: could include physical assault or even abduction. The alleged extortion
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: plot began after the client had already paid about one
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars toward a lobbying agreement totaling six hundred
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars. When the client's son proposed paying the remainder
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: in installments, prosecutors say NAS became angry and escalated the dispute.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Nas has been released on a five million dollar bond
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: while the case moves forward. If convicted, he could face
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: up to twenty years in federal prison.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Thanks John for the latest crime and justice needs. Go
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: to crime online dot com and please join us for
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace