Nirada Ricky Moore, 26, bragged to police about how he took out his victim, James Byers, with one brutal hit to the head with an unknown object in what Moore called a "one hitter quitter." A notice in Moore's court file states that he was charged with first degree murder and that the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office intended to "seek the death penalty in this matter, if this matter is not resolved by a guilty plea."

     
A selection from the Nirada Moore Mugshot Collection courtesy of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office 

   But as Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory recently reminded constituents in an email asking them to contact their state legislators and grovel for more money for the underfunded justice system here, there are 144 murder suspects in the Mecklenburg County jail awaiting trial and the DA has the resources to try just 12 of them a year. The rest must be plea bargained. That the DA doesn't have the resources to push for tougher plea deals -- under threat of going to a trial -- in the remaining cases is well known among defense attorneys and public defenders, who cut some incredible deals for their clients.
   Moore cut a plea deal for the April 8, 2006 murder that let him plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and pay just $1,800 in restitution to Byers' family. (That's not even enough to bury the victim.) He has since completed his prison sentence and is presently being held in the Mecklenburg County Jail on unspecified charges.
   There's more. According to state law and the official bail policy of the Mecklenburg County courts, judicial officials are supposed to grant bail unless there is reason to believe that the defendant poses a danger to others, might intimidate witnesses or poses a flight risk. 
   While Moore was awaiting disposal of his case, District Court Judge Philip F. Howerton, Jr. let him out on pre-trial release despite his long criminal record, which included threats of violence. That didn't turn out so well. 
   "Anomosity (sic) between the defendant and his neighbors has greatly esculated (sic) since the defendant has posted bond and he himself was wounded in a shooting by a neighbor," a statement in Moore's court file reads. "The court finds an extreme likelihood that should the defendant remain free on bond that he will be charged with more serious charges or a homicide or he will be killed himself."
   The assistant district attorney who cut the plea deal was Jay Ashendorf. The judge in the case was Jesse B. Caldwell, III.