Man wanted in Jackson murder has long criminal history, records show

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A man wanted for murder in a missing person case in Jackson pleaded guilty to a federal charge a few months ago.

On Saturday, an arrest warrant was issued for Tonarri Moore for the murder of Larry Reynolds.

Jackson police began an investigation into Reynold's disappearance Friday. A day later, two women were arrested and charged with accessory after the fact, and a warrant was issued for Moore's arrest.

The news comes months after Moore pleaded guilty to violating Title 18 of the United States Code, which prohibits convicted felons from shipping, transporting, possessing or receiving firearms or ammunition.

U.S. District Court Judge Kristi Johnson originally scheduled sentencing for June 5. However, on May 20, she postponed this sentence without giving a new date.

Jackson police said officers and U.S. Marshals were involved in the search. “We have not made any contact with Tonarri Moore at this time,” Deputy Chief Sequerna Banks said. “We're still early in our investigation to try to locate him…That's all we have at the moment.”

Banks could not provide details about the crime and said authorities did not yet know the motive. She told WLBT that Moore should be considered armed and dangerous.

A quick search of court records indicates that Moore has a lengthy criminal history, including a conviction for involuntary manslaughter and charges of armed robbery, resisting arrest and simple assault on a law enforcement officer.

Moore pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 1996. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 20 years suspended and five years of probation.

According to the Clarion-Ledger, Moore, who was 19 at the time, fatally shot a man at a boarding house on the corner of Page and Woodlawn streets.

Police found “six to eight bullet holes in the front door and one bullet hole in the kitchen refrigerator.” Blood covered the floor and kitchen door, and two shell casings were found near the front steps,” the Ledger reported.

While on probation for that crime, records show Moore was indicted again in 1998, this time on one count of conspiracy. This matter was placed on his file.

Also in 1999, Moore was indicted on three other counts, including one of conspiracy and one of possession of a controlled substance. Records indicate Moore was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiracy and a second unknown charge, while the separate possession charge was also placed on his record.

Nearly a decade later, in 2008, Moore was in trouble again, this time being arrested for simple assault on a law enforcement officer.

In 2009, the state decided not to pursue the case. However, Moore was charged with another crime, resisting arrest.

In 2021, specially appointed Judge Jess Dickinson dismissed that charge, along with charges against more than 100 defendants, “because of the length of time the cases went unanswered…and further because of the difficulty of the 'State to locate witnesses and sufficient evidence.'

Moore also made headlines when he was manager of the Upper Level Bar & Grill. The facility, located northwest of Jackson, was owned by Moore's mother. Moore had several run-ins with police under former Mayor Frank Melton.

In 2006, Moore was arrested after claiming that officers under Melton's direction assaulted him. Later, in 2008, then-JPD leader Malcolm McMillin told the Clarion Ledger he wanted the club closed after three shootings on the site.

That same year, Chancery Court Judge Dewayne Thomas issued a temporary restraining order closing the facility, finding it to be a public nuisance.

Details of Moore's federal case have not been made public in the Federal Court's online database. According to Jackson Jambalaya, DEA agents found cocaine, a loaded handgun, a shotgun and “various calibers of ammunition” during a raid on his home in 2021.

Court records indicate the case is linked to two other federal cases, one involving former Hinds County Sheriff Marshand Crisler and former Jackson police officer Torrence Mayfield.

Crisler, who also served two terms on the Jackson City Council, pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery and selling ammunition to a convicted felon last spring.

A pretrial conference is scheduled in Crisler's case on June 10.

Mayfield, who was at the center of a 3 On Your Side investigation, was accused of selling a gun to a convicted felon in October 2021.

Moore faces up to 10 years in prison if charged under two paragraphs of the code. If Moore is charged under any other subsection, he faces between 15 years and life in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

Available records show that on Feb. 26, he was granted $10,000 bail.

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