Coast man jailed in domestic shooting was already wanted on assault charge, records show
A man accused of shooting and injuring his wife in St. Martin last week had been wanted on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge since July, according to records obtained exclusively by the Sun Herald.
Vinet Williams Moore, 41, is in the Jackson County jail on an attempted murder charge for allegedly shooting his estranged wife, Michelle Coleman, outside her home on Sept. 9.
Like a lot of domestic violence victims, Coleman, 43, repeatedly reported the alleged assaults and was in and out of Justice Court fighting for protection orders or signing an affidavit to have him arrested. Still, Moore remained a free man the morning of the shooting.
The simple assault domestic violence charge still pending arrest at the time of the shooting is related to a June 27 incident at the same St. Martin home.
According to documents obtained by the Sun Herald, Coleman was at her home in St. Martin with two of the couple’s children, ages 9 and 15, when Moore called to say he was standing outside.
Before Coleman could respond, she said the youngest child had let Moore inside and he seemed OK at first, but then things quickly turned “violent,” and her estranged husband allegedly pushed her.
When the assault started, Coleman said she grabbed her phone to dial 911 for help, but then “he grabbed my phone and I tried to get it away from him and he pushed me.”
Moore, Coleman said, then grabbed the teenager’s phone and headed toward the door. Coleman said she followed him to the door to lock it behind him if he left, but that didn’t happen.
Instead, Coleman said, Moore turned around and allegedly tackled her “football-style” three more times.
During the assault, she said, she hit her head on a wall and had a cracked rib from when she was tackled and her body slammed into the side of a couch.
Divorce hearing
In a special hearing Friday in the couple’s divorce case, Chancery Judge Neil Harris reminded attorneys a restraining order remains in place to keep Moore away with the exception of the pair having to meet for a child visitation exchange.
Coleman’s attorney, Ashley McKnight, said her client wanted Moore’s visitation rights terminated immediately.
“The child was in the home when he (allegedly) came into the home and shot her,” McKnight said. “She doesn’t want him to come back…”
Harris immediately issued an order terminating any visitation, though Moore still remains jailed without bond.
The couple’s divorce case is set for trial in January, but the judge asked the attorneys if they want to push up the trial to November.
“It is my understanding that she (Coleman) was actually just released from the hospital today, but she is still in a lot of pain and I have to call her,” McKnight said.
In addition, she said she knew Coleman had a lot of doctor’s appointments ahead and needs to check in with her to see if Coleman would be in a position to testify in November.
Previous assault and no arrest
Since last week’s shooting, some of Coleman’s family have questioned why authorities had not already taken Moore into custody for restraining or protection order violations or previous alleged assaults.
Sheriff Mike Ezell said deputies responded to the domestic violence call in June, but Moore had already gone when deputies got to the scene.
The sheriff said deputies had responded to other calls to the home, but Moore was usually gone.. On one occasion, deputies found Moore at the home, asked him to leave and Moore did so.
After the call in June, Coleman went to Justice Court to sign an affidavit outlining the allegations of domestic abuse against Moore to have him arrested.
The sheriff’s department received the arrest warrant from Justice Court on July 7, but Moore remained a free man until after last week’s shooting, records show.
Ezell said deputies had limited information on his whereabouts.
Deputies had been told he could be anywhere from Gulfport to Pensacola.
“His mom lives in Gulfport, and and we don’t know who lives between here and Pensacola, but that’s the information we got,” Ezell said. “We did a report on it.”
Long way to recovery
Moore’s arrest happened after a six-hour standoff when deputies responded to a 911 call of a shooting from two of the couple’s children.
Since then, the mother of four, Air Force veteran and licensed practical nurse at Keesler Medical Center has undergone surgery at an Alabama hospital.
Her family said Thursday she is still hospitalized and has a long way to go to full recovery, but she is in good spirits and progressing as well as could be expected.
At his initial court appearance for the attempted murder charge Monday, Moore looked toward Coleman’s 22-year-old daughter, Aariahn May, and appeared to bring his hands together as if he was praying.
He started to speak out in court, but the judge advised him it would be in his best interest to refrain from commenting.
“He held up his hands like he was praying and asking for forgiveness when he looked at me,” May said.
“You know, I never expected for him to try to (allegedly) kill her as much as he said he loved her.”
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
