BLACK on Gay BLACK: Feb 2023 Man charged with murder claimed 'Lucifer' killed 81-year-old neighbor, Austin police say

[Arheel's Uncle]

Man charged with murder claimed 'Lucifer' killed 81-year-old neighbor, Austin police say

Tamorian Moore, 23, denied killing his neighbor Leonard Foster, 81, claiming that "Lucifer did," according to an Austin police arrest affidavit.

www.statesman.com

Man charged with murder claimed 'Lucifer' killed 81-year-old neighbor, Austin police say​

Skye Seipp
Austin American-Statesman
February 23, 2023

A man accused of killing his 81-year-old apartment neighbor claims that "Lucifer did" it, but that he is unable to remember how it happened, according to Austin police.
Tamorian Moore, 23, faces a murder charge in the death of Leonard Foster, 81. He was listed as in custody at the Travis County Jail on Thursday with bail set at $1 million, online records show.

Foster's family members asked Austin police on Feb. 18, Foster's birthday, to check on him after the relatives went to his apartment in Southeast Austin and found the front door unlocked and Foster missing, according to an arrest affidavit.
Almost an hour later, a caller told police that Foster's vehicle was back at his apartment complex on Royal Crest Drive, but another man — later identified by investigators as Moore — was driving it, the affidavit said.

Another caller reached out to Austin police to report that Moore was wearing latex gloves and loading black trash bags into Foster's truck, according to the affidavit.

When Austin police arrived about two hours after the original call was placed, they found Moore carrying a black trash bag over his shoulder. Police spoke to Moore, who then started to run and took off his pants to get away, but he was detained by officers who also found a handgun in his pants pocket and a door key in his possession, the affidavit said.
Police wrote in the arrest affidavit that Moore's shoes "strongly" smelled like cleaning products and were soaking wet, and that an officer noticed that the trash bag had a pillow and paper towels with blood stains on each. While checking the apartment Moore was coming out of, police also noticed jugs of bleach.

According to police, Moore told them he lived in the apartment complex but would not tell officers which unit, saying only that he "lived across from a pedophile" who had been "watching him since he moved in."
Moore told police the neighbor tried to "seduce" and "rape" him, the affidavit said. Based on the information Moore gave, police think the neighbor was Foster.

Police asked if he knew where Foster's body was, to which Moore replied that he didn't know. The officer then asked if Moore killed Foster, and he said no, that "Lucifer did," according to the affidavit, but Moore did not know how that happened because he "blacked out" after the officer asked, "how Lucifer killed him."
After hearing loud music coming from the apartment across from Foster's, one police officer knocked to see if the occupants saw anything, but no one answered the door. Officers used the key found in Moore's possession and unlocked the door.
Inside, they immediately found Foster's body, which was wrapped in blankets, with his feet bound and his head sticking out, according to the affidavit.

 

[Arheel's Uncle]

2023 Obituary Leonard Foster, 81 Austin Texas

https://www.kxan.com/news/crime/family-of-killed-81-year-old-fears-he-was-victim-of-hate-crime/​

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Family of killed 81-year-old fears he was victim of hate crime​

by: Brianna Hollis

Posted: Feb 23, 2023 / 01:47 PM CST

Updated: Feb 23, 2023 / 07:03 PM CST


AUSTIN (KXAN) — Leonard Foster, 81, was found dead in his apartment Saturday, and his family believes the suspect may have targeted him because he was gay. The Austin Police Department said it was still investigating his death but added it has “no indication that it was a bias-motivated crime at this time.”
On Feb. 18, Foster’s family called for a welfare check, and police ultimately found Foster’s body in his neighbor’s apartment. That neighbor, 23-year-old Tamorian Moore, was arrested and charged with murder.
We have reached out to Moore’s attorney but have not heard back yet.
Man charged with murder after neighbor’s body found in his apartment
“Shocked, hurt, angry, all of the above,” said Foster’s sister Lois Barnett.
According to an arrest affidavit, Moore said he “lived across from a pedophile” who had “been watching him since he moved in,” according to the affidavit. When police questioned him about this, Moore said he did not want to talk about him. KXAN searched both the national and state sex offender registries for Foster, but Foster was not listed. APD confirmed it had no information Foster had been “investigated for any sex-related offenses.”

Police ultimately found Foster’s body after performing a welfare check on Feb. 18. (KXAN photo/Ed Zavala)
Investigators said Foster died from blunt and sharp force trauma to the head. The affidavit also states police found Moore with a trash bag filled with paper towels and a pillow that looked like it was covered in blood.
“He did not deserve that. A wonderful, beautiful spirit,” said Foster’s niece Debra Adams. “He was so very loved. That’s why he was missed so soon.”

When an officer asked Moore if he killed Foster, Moore responded he didn’t, but Lucifer did, according to the arrest affidavit.
Foster’s family believes the attack may have been a hate crime.
“We would like to see the charges upgraded,” Adams said.
Specific criteria must be met for an action to be considered a hate crime, as explained in this case about a man who set a synagogue on a fire.
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The FBI defines a hate crime as “a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity,” according to its website.
“It doesn’t involve the criminal law unless the hate is the reason people act out,” said retired judge Charlie Baird. “[Hate] cannot just be part of the reason, it has to be the motivating factor.”
Baird said it can often take an extensive investigation before law enforcement can officially deem something a hate crime.
“And the reason for that is because a hate crime increases the range of punishment for which an individual can be punished,” said Baird. “It would depend on the actions of the defendant. Perhaps writings, perhaps groups he’s a member of, perhaps conversations he’s had with people.”

He added that the location of a crime can also prompt law enforcement to more quickly deem something a hate crime.
“For example if it occurs in a mosque or synagogue, it might have an indication that the hate crime in those were based upon the characteristic of a religious faith,” said Baird.
We have reached out to Moore’s attorney, but have not yet heard back.