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Authorities have dismissed a murder charged against a man accused in a fatal shooting earlier this month in Cleveland County.
The Shelby Star reports that District Attorney Rick Shaffer said the charge against Matthew Anthony Moore was dropped after he concluded “Moore killed the decedent in self defense.”
Moore had been in jail since Dec. 15 after authorities say he shot 20-year-old Kevin Lee Cole of Forest City at Moore’s residence on Mooresboro Road in the western part of the county. At the time, Sheriff Alan Norman said early indications pointed to an altercation between the two men and he said the case appeared to be drug-related.
According to the Star, Shaffer said Moore told authorities that Cole had shot at him first, and they fought over the gun.
Jail records showed that Moore, 26, was still being held at the Cleveland County Detention Center early Thursday. The website for the sheriff’s office showed that the murder charge had been dismissed, but Moore was being held under a “fugitive from other state” charge.
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