A Berkeley man found guilty of suffocating his two young children in the mud along the banks of the Mississippi River is headed to prison. Anthony Curtis Moore was sentenced Friday morning to two sentences of life in prison without the possibility of probation or parole.
Witnesses said they saw Moore stomping into mud near the Chain of Rocks Bridge in August 2004. A short time later, 2-year-old Toni Moore and 9-month-old Kanye Anderson were found dead along the Mississippi River.
The sentence came after Circuit Judge Joan Burger listened to a number of emotional speakers from both Moore’s family and the families of each child’s mother.
The grandmother of one of Moore’s children said she had forgiven Moore and urged him to pray for help from God.
One of Anthony Moore’s sisters told the court her brother is not a heartless or cruel person like the way she feels some have portrayed him.
In the end, Burger said her decision was a difficult one. She said she agonized for 16 days and nights and carefully considering the evidence and the law before making her decision in this bench trial.
Once the sentence was read, Moore told Burger he felt that he’d had ineffective council, who did not contact witnesses he’d suggested and who he felt misinformed him about requesting a bench trial versus a jury trial.
Outside the courtroom after the sentencing, Kanye’s mother talked with reporters.
“I really wasn’t trying to pay attention to that. I was just happy with the verdict and the sentencing. … I just want to focus on my family and my son that’s still living, ” said Iesha Anderson.
Anthony Moore’s brother, Marlon Robinson, said the verdict is like “a loss” for the family.
“We lost three people in this whole thing and it’s just like our hearts do go out to the mothers,” said Robinson.
Both families said they’d like to see Moore get mental health treatment.
Moore’s family said they support his plan to appeal the judge’s decision in this case.
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He has to be heartless and cruel there is no excuse for what he did. His family should be ashamed for defending this man and making excuses for what he did to a 2 yr old and 9 mo baby. There is no acceptable excuse for stomping your children into the mud and deserves to suffer as much as possible.
27 May 07 at 9:59 p #I suppose the loss of these children meant nothing to his family. No wonder he did what he did another example of people protecting family at the expense of morality and common sense.
27 May 07 at 9:59 p #Having known Anthony Moore for 27 years, I would like to share with you the fact that he suffers from tourette syndrome. It’s something we were genetically predisposed to. Having had to deal with this throughout my adolescence and early adulthood I know how hard it is when your brain is sending signals telling you to do something and you cannot control your actions. My niece and nephew were a blessing to our family and are missed everyday. Child support was not an issue because, as a family, we all shared the responsibility for caring and supporting Little Toni and Kanye. So once again the legal system has failed to take into consideration the expert testimony of two separate pyschiatrists’ statements (the defense and the state) that he could not have appreciated the wrongfulness of his actions at the time of this incident because of mental disease or defect. Instead, the legal system convicted him because he was “yawning” and “doodling”.
01 Jun 07 at 9:59 p #