Florida – In a horrific incident in Florida that unfolded inside a place long viewed as quiet and safe, a 40-year-old homeless man, identified as A. Moore, now faces the most serious charge under Florida law after a random and fatal stabbing at a bookstore. Moore has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder, accused of killing a 65-year-old woman, identified as R. Loncharich, in what police describe as a sudden, unprovoked attack driven by a severe mental break. He is being held without bond at the county jail as the case moves forward.
Authorities say the charge reflects not only the deadly outcome, but the deliberate nature of the act. According to court documents, Moore admitted to stabbing the woman from behind, later telling investigators there was no prior interaction, no argument, and no personal motive. Instead, he blamed what police described as a psychotic “internal build up” that pushed him to attack the closest person near him.
The attack happened just before 8 p.m. on Monday, December 22, at a bookstore inside a shopping center. Loncharich, a married woman, was inside the store browsing and reading a magazine when Moore approached her from behind and stabbed her in the back without warning. Court records state that after being wounded, Loncharich cried out, “He stabbed me!” Witnesses described confusion and fear spreading quickly through the store as customers realized something was terribly wrong. Despite her severe injury, Loncharich managed to call her husband, moments after the attack. She told him she had just been stabbed, according to statements later shared with investigators and the media. By the time police arrived, the situation inside the bookstore was already dire.
Police officers were dispatched at approximately 7:53 p.m. Responding officers found Loncharich inside the store “with a knife embedded in her back,” according to the arrest affidavit. Officers immediately began lifesaving efforts while fire rescue crews rushed her to a nearby hospital. Doctors worked to save her, but her injuries were too severe. Loncharich was pronounced dead at approximately 9:30 p.m., about an hour and a half after the stabbing. Surveillance cameras captured Moore fleeing the store and running out of the shopping center toward a wooded area nearby. Police located and arrested him shortly afterward. According to the affidavit, Moore “willfully admitted to stabbing a woman in the back and running out of the store.”
Investigators also revealed that Moore had arrived in Florida by bus from Georgia just days earlier and had been living in the woods. Police told Loncharich’s husband that Moore has a documented history of mental illness. The randomness of the attack left shoppers shaken and struggling to process what had happened. One customer told local media, “It’s terrible that anybody can’t walk into a regular store without being fearful of being stabbed.” Another one said, “For violence to occur somewhere like that, for someone to lose their life there, it’s shocking.”
As Moore awaits his first court appearance, scheduled for Wednesday, questions remain about how he moved unnoticed through the shopping center and whether additional security measures could have prevented the attack. For now, police say the investigation is still active. Loncharich’s death has left a deep wound among her family and those who knew her. Moore remains jailed without bond, facing a lifetime behind bars if convicted. For Loncharich’s loved ones, the legal process offers little comfort. A quiet evening, a familiar store, and a life lost in seconds have changed everything.
