A quiet evening inside a Florida bookstore turned into a nightmare when a 65-year-old woman was fatally stabbed in what police say was a completely unprovoked attack.
The killing happened shortly before 8 p.m. Monday inside a Barnes & Noble location in Palm Beach Gardens, according to authorities.
When officers arrived, they found the victim — identified as Rita Loncharich — unresponsive inside the store with a knife lodged in her back, according to a probable cause affidavit from the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department.
Police said officers immediately tried to save her and rushed her to a nearby hospital, but she later died from her injuries.
Investigators say the suspect fled the store immediately after the stabbing. Witnesses and surveillance footage helped police quickly identify and track the suspect, who was found hiding in the woods near the store a short time later, wearing clothes that matched what was seen on camera.
The suspect was identified as 40-year-old Antonio Moore.
According to police, Moore admitted to stabbing Loncharich in the back with a fixed-blade knife and told investigators there was no provocation or motive. In a chilling statement cited in the affidavit, Moore allegedly said he felt an “internal buildup” that triggered a fight-or-flight response, with Loncharich being the closest person to him inside the store.
Investigators say Moore heard the victim exclaim that she had been stabbed before he ran out of the store and into the nearby woods.
Police also learned that Moore had arrived in Palm Beach Gardens about a week earlier after traveling by bus from Georgia. At the time of the attack, he was reportedly inside the bookstore charging his phone.
Moore was booked Tuesday morning on a charge of first-degree premeditated murder, according to online jail records.
During his first court appearance on Wednesday, a judge found probable cause for the charge and ordered Moore to be held without bond. He is expected to return to court next month.
Barnes & Noble’s press office said the company does not comment on active police investigations.
Hope liberal, guilt ridden white women don’t think he’s cute and start a fund to pay for his lawyers.
This guy looks like an animal. Blacks are just so dysfunctional and the question is, are they just by nature violent or did we create this disaster by constantly excusing their behavior because we continue to feel bad because of what happened to them back in the day? In any case they are now basically terrorizing the rest of the society.
White guilt is destroying this country.
If I say what I want , maybe some will think that I am racist so I just say this man is full of demons .Hope he gets to hear the gospel story and he repents of his sins as everyone needs too
I agree. He has a demon in him.