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RICHFIELD, NC – Terrifying moments as police say a murder suspect jumped from one victim to the next, across several counties. A shooting, a carjacking, then a rape.
17-year-old Jennifer Merriman’s brother is remembering her on Facebook. He writes he’s trying to understand what was going through the mind of 33-year-old Montannez Moody when he allegedly broke through the window of a house on Richfield Road.
Investigators say Moody opened fire, hitting and killing Merriman, the sister of his estranged wife Julia. Police say he also hit and injured her aunt 54-year-old Bernice Merriman, who is expected to recover. The woman he was looking for, Julia Moody, hid in a closet with her two young children and is OK.
From there, his crime spree continued in High Point, where police say he carjacked a man and woman. The man got away, while the woman says Moody raped her. She managed to escape into a wooded area in Edgecombe County, not far from where Moody was found dead. Police suspect a cocaine overdose.
Back in Richfield, one neighbor who didn’t want to show his face on camera, says his girlfriend knew the murder victim from school. “She’s gonna try to go to the funeral and all that stuff. So she’s a little distraught,” he says.
We’ve learned Moody has a lengthy rap sheet in North Carolina. That includes failing to notify change of address as a sex offender in 2009 and 2006, possession of a firearm by a felon in 2004, and 2nd degree sex offense in 2003.
We’ve also learned Moody and his estranged wife were scheduled to be in court Monday regarding a domestic violence order.
