Defendant Convicted in Robbery, Hammer Attack

Aug. 16, 2021 – A Criminal Court jury has convicted a Memphis man of robbing a 40-year-old new acquaintance in 2016 and beating him on the head repeatedly with a claw hammer, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

Defendant Zaciaro Moore was convicted Friday on felony counts of especially aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and theft of property over $1,000. He remains in custody and is scheduled be sentenced Sept. 17 by Judge Chris Craft.

The incident occurred shortly before 4 a.m. on April 15, 2016, at the victim’s apartment on Third Cove in Raleigh. Investigators found the victim with multiple cuts on his face and scalp, as well as with several circular dents left by the hammer attack.

He was taken to a hospital in critical condition and also was treated for skull fractures and placed on a ventilator.

According to testimony, Moore had been staying with the victim after meeting him online several days earlier. The two were involved in an early-morning argument during which Moore struck the victim in head with the hammer nearly a dozen times.

Moore then stole the victim’s TV, cellphone, wallet, and automobile. He was arrested several hours later at a nearby apartment complex.

The case was handled by Asst. Dist. Atty. Jose Leon of the District Attorney’s Special Prosecution Unit 8 which seeks maximum sentencing for repeat felony offenders.