Background: News footage of the scene in New Caney, Texas, where Lonnie Moore was found dead on June 15, 2025 (KTRK). Inset: Breyanai Moore (Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office).
A Texas man whom authorities originally believed shot himself was killed by someone else, and police said the one who pulled the trigger was his estranged wife.
Breyanai Moore, 31, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the death of her estranged husband, 33-year-old Lonnie Moore, who was found dead of a gunshot wound last year. In a Facebook post announcing the arrest, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office stated that Lonnie Moore’s death was originally believed to be the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. However, further investigation of the evidence at the scene contradicted that conclusion, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Nine months after Lonnie Moore was found dead in his vehicle on morning of June 15, the sheriff’s office said Breyanai Moore was responsible for his death.
Police said Lonnie Moore’s body was found in a running vehicle on the side of the road in New Caney, Texas, around 9 a.m. on June 15. According to court documents obtained by local ABC affiliate KTRK, police spoke to Breyanai Moore after the grisly discovery. They learned that the couple shared a 5-year-old daughter and had been separated for two years. Breyanai Moore told police at the time that she texted with Lonnie Moore that morning and told him that she was filing for divorce.
But according to a friend of Breyanai Moore who spoke to police, Breyanai Moore was using a burner phone to lure Lonnie Moore into picking her up that morning. The friend told police that Breyanai Moore said she got into the back seat when Lonnie Moore arrived then allegedly shot him when he reached for something in the back of the vehicle.
Police said Breyanai Moore’s own mother identified her daughter on Flock cameras that allegedly showed Breyanai Moore in her estranged husband’s neighborhood the morning he was found dead. According to court documents, Breyanai Moore’s mother told police that her daughter seemed consumed by guilt after Lonnie Moore’s death, and that she had lost weight and cried often.
Breyanai Moore’s mother also reportedly told police that her daughter hated her estranged husband and wished harm on him.
Breyanai Moore was charged with murder and booked into the Montgomery County Jail, where she is being held without bond. Her next court date is scheduled for March 31.
