On August 9th 2009 at 8:30 am, Brenda Moore returned home to find that her house had suffered a fire. Among the burned wreckage, she discovered the body of her 15-year- old daughter. Jasmine Moore had been stabbed and bludgeoned to death before being set ablaze by her attackers. Police said this was done in an effort to remove evidence.

It worked. Nearly five years passed without a break. The police had a suspect, but lacked the proof they needed to justify an arrest. Then, on June 9 th 2014, Tyberius Murchinson entered the Alma Police Department. “I need to tell y’all what I know about this.”

Murchinson confessed to stabbing Jasmine Moore. He said that her boyfriend Deion Smith, believing Jasmine was pregnant, enlisted his help in taking the sophomore’s life. He said that Smith struck Moore with a claw hammer before Murchinson himself stabbed her with a kitchen knife. They collected trash from around the house which they used to start the fire.

After attending a series of revivals, Murchinson found Jesus. His new-found faith moved him to confess. His confession lead to the arrest of Deion Smith, whom police had suspected from early on in the investigation.

Smith was handed a life-sentence for malice murder with an additional 15 years for arson. Murchinson, having pled guilty to charges of aggravated assault and arson, was respectively sentenced to 20 years plus an additional 10.