A St. Louis County man was suffering from a psychotic disorder when he smothered his two young children in the mud of the Mississippi River in August 2004 making him not responsible for the crime, his defense attorney argued this morning.
Assistant Public Defender Jeff Estes will try to convince a St. Louis judge that Anthony Moore, 27, charged with two counts of first-degree murder, is not guilty by reason of insanity in a non-jury trial that began today.
St. Louis Circuit Judge Joan Burger will hear evidence this week from witnesses, relatives and psychiatrists before she renders a verdict.
Moore is accused of killing his children Kanya Derrick Anderson, 9 months, and Toni Mickyla Camille Moore, 2, in the North Riverfront Park, a city park along Riverview Drive south of the Chain of Rocks Bridge.
Prosecutor Ed Postawko said in his opening statement that Moore acted deliberate when he pulled the children out of the car and pushed their faces into the mud.
During the trial this morning, Moore yawned and doodled on paper while the weeping mothers of the two children described the last time they saw their children.
They testified that Moore picked up the children on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2004, after he attended church services. He asked Kanya's mother, Aisha Henderson, if their son had been Baptized.
“It surprised me,” she told the court. “He has never talked about religion before.”
Moore's sister, Tara Harris, testified that Moore acted normal when he bathed and dressed the children the next morning, hours before they died. He left their house with plans to take them to a photo studio to get a family portrait.
“It was like a normal morning,” Harris testified.
Harris said the next time she saw her brother, he was walking down their street in north St. Louis County about 3:30 p.m. speaking incoherently. He was covered with mud and “foaming at the mouth,” she said. The children were not with him.
Neighbors and witnesses directed Harris and her aunt to the park where Moore had been. At the park, they found the children laying in the mud in front of Moore's car at the end of the boat ramp.
A St. Louis County police officer testified that Moore was agitated and incoherent when he struggled with arresting officers, police said. They subdued him with a Taser gun and took him to the hospital.
Both prosecuting and defense attorneys expect to call health experts this afternoon to testify about Moore's mental state at the time of the crime.
By Heather Ratcliffe
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH