Christmas shopper was stabbed to death by mentally ill homeless man in Barnes & Noble: cops
A 65‑year‑old woman was fatally stabbed while shopping for holiday gifts at a Barnes & Noble in Palm Beach Gardens, according to local police.
The victim, Rita Loncharich, was leaf‑picking a magazine in the store when 40‑year‑old Antonio Moore, a mentally ill homeless man who arrived in Florida from Georgia a week earlier, suddenly thrust a knife into her back. “He stabbed me!” Loncharich shouted to her husband, Stuart, as she tried to call for help. CBS 12 reports the call was made from an in‑store phone.
Responding officers entered the bookstore shortly before 8 p.m. and found Loncharich lying on the floor, the knife still embedded in her back. She was then taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead just before 9:30 p.m. The store’s surveillance cameras captured Moore fleeing the scene into nearby woods, where police quickly apprehended him.
An affidavit filed by the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office says Moore “willfully admitted to stabbing a woman in the back inside Barnes & Noble and running out of the store,” and that he had “no prior interaction” with, or motive for, killing her. He attributed his actions to a psychotic “internal build up” that drove him to “pick on the closest person in the store,” according to investigators.
Moore is facing a charge of pre‑meditated first‑degree murder. He is being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. Police informed Loncharich’s husband that the suspect has a documented history of mental illness and had been living in the woods in the area.
The sudden, random nature of the attack has left other Barnes & Noble shoppers shaken. David, who only provided his first name, told CBS 12: “It’s terrible that anybody can’t walk into a regular store without being fearful of being stabbed.” Another customer, Rebekkah, added: “For violence to occur somewhere like that, for someone to lose their life there, it’s shocking.”
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