Four years after NC barber was killed in his home, new details offer hope
Each year, John Moore’s family celebrates his life with community members and friends.
This July 26 was different. Gastonia police had just released video footage connected to the home invasion in which John was killed.
After seeing the three suspects break through the door, his family opted for an intimate dinner for this year’s remembrance. The video gave them something they wanted to talk about privately.
“Who could have been young that hung out with him or who moved like those individuals moved? Do we know anybody who had a pair of Nikes on like that one fella had on?” said Stephan Moore, John’s brother.
John Moore was killed in 2021 in his home on Allison Street. His family hasn’t given up hope that whoever killed him will be held accountable, nor has the Gastonia Police Department.
“Though the individuals are masked, detectives are hopeful that members of the public may recognize something — perhaps an item of clothing, a distinctive walk, or even a pair of shoes,” the authorities stated in a press release.
“Somebody knows something, and I know they do,” John Moore’s aunt, Laurette Avery, said in an interview with the police department.
“It may not be a lead to you, but it could be big for this case,” she said.
Stephan Moore, 45, a Gastonia native who lives in Miami, said in a recent interview with The Charlotte Observer that he has not stopped advocating to keep his younger brother’s name alive.
His message to the three people in the video: “Come forth, allow our family to forgive you, allow our family to have peace, but allow justice to prevail.”
He sends bi-weekly emails to the police department for updates on the case.
The Gastonia police are responsive, Stephan Moore said, and he realizes there have been other homicides since his brother’s that keep them busy.
People with information on the case are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers of Gaston County at 704-861-8000 or Detective Houser with the Gastonia Police Department at 704-866-6702. A reward of $7,000 is being offered.
Stephan Moore hopes to raise the reward to $10,000 through donations by John Moore’s birthday in late August. John died at 32 and would have turned 37 this year.
John Moore’s life
John was the youngest of four boys but was the brother that held the others accountable.
“John was the light and the breath of our brotherhood,” Stephan Moore said.
“He was the one who kind of wanted to play the father figure even though he was the youngest,” he added. “He wanted to ensure that we lived life to the fullest and that we had so much to offer to this world that we call home.”
John Moore’s brother also described him as the athlete of the family. John played T-ball, football and basketball.
After attending Hunter Huss High School, he earned his certificate from Next Level Barber Academy in Gastonia.
Stephan Moore remembers him sitting at the local barbershop for hours taking note of how hair was cut. As he grew older, not only did John Moore say he wanted to be a barber, but he wanted to own a family barbershop.
Living out his dream, he would cut hair late in the day or on Sundays.
People drove from Lancaster, South Carolina, and Charlotte to get a John Moore haircut.
John is survived by one son, John Moore Jr., who is now 15 years old.
“His son was a joy to him,” Stephan said. He “made him live life even more, made him want to ensure that his career as a barber was more substantial. Because he wanted his son to see his dad as a proud servant.”
“Not only did you rob a family, you took a father away from their son, who is just now a teenager. Those critical moments in their life where you need that father figure to be there to talk through those moments.”
Stephan would call his youngest brother when he needed advice, and he knew he would always feel better after talking to John.
“He wanted us to make sure that it was OK to laugh. And it’s hard. It’s hard to laugh now,” Stephan said with tears gathering in his eyes during the interview.
John was also known as John Luke, a nickname his older cousin gave him. Luke was a term of luck.
“He was that fixture for the family. It was just something about him that he could bring a sense of peace, a sense of joy, a sense of happiness to anyone in our family,” Stephan said.
Stephan Moore is putting together a foundation named after his late brother in hopes of reducing the amount of unsolved cases.
The John Luke Foundation will work with youth, community members and police to foster communication and lessen the crime rate.
“There’s no secret right now that in Black and brown communities police are not looked at as friends,” Stephan Moore said. “They’re not looked at as advocates. They’re not looked at as supporters.”
He thinks someone must need that $7,000 reward money, but wonders if they have enough trust in the justice system to come forward.
July 26, 2021
There are parts of the case that Stephan Moore continues to struggle with.
John was home with two friends the night he was killed. One of them lived with John and the other often stayed over, according to Stephan Moore.
He says the two people say they have no answers, and one doesn’t seem cooperative. This brings more pain, he said.
“Would I sit with it differently if he was home alone? Maybe. But he wasn’t.”
As Stephan Moore recounted the night he received the phone call telling him to fly in from his home in Miami, he wishes he could rewind time.
He wishes he would’ve called his brother earlier in the day or planned to come into town that week instead of the week after.
Instead of remembering how he fell to his knees in his kitchen and sat frozen in the airport, he wants to remember the day he, John and their brother Tavish walked to a T-ball game at the Erwin Center.
John and Tavish were dressed in their new red and blue uniforms provided by the community center. Stephan, a coach, wore a red shirt with holes in it; he couldn’t afford to buy the nicer shirts coaches wore.
John looked over and told his older brother, “You just have so many holes in your shirt, but we still love you and care about you.”
“That was just who he was, no matter how you showed up, he was going to always love you,” Stephan Moore said.
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
