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Man accused of stomping wife

By EDDY RAMIREZ
Published January 27, 2007

FLORAL CITY - A man told authorities that he tried to kill his wife because she had an abortion without his knowledge or consent.

Robert N. Moore, 37, of Floral City, was arrested Thursday night on a felony charge of attempted murder after knocking his wife to the floor and stomping on her head, according to a Citrus sheriff's deputy arrest report.

He is being held at the Citrus County Detention Center. No bail was set.

His wife, Angela Moore, 29, suffered severe head trauma. She was flown to Tampa General Hospital, where she remained in critical condition Friday.

The Department of Children and Families removed two children, ages 8 and 5, from the house where the assault happened Thursday.

Sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call about a domestic battery at a single-family mobile home. They found an 8-year-old girl screaming inside. She was standing next to her mother, who was on the floor unconscious and bleeding.

The woman had injuries to her head and face.

The deputies checked the woman's pulse and noticed she had difficulty breathing.

Her husband, who had been waiting outside, told deputies: "I hit her."

According to the arrest report, the man told deputies that his wife had an abortion three days earlier.

"She killed my child so I wanted to kill her," he told deputies. "She would not leave."

The Citrus Times could not verify the man's account. The Sheriff's Office said it had no direct knowledge that the woman had had an abortion. No one answered the door at the address of the woman's family that is listed in property records.

The 8-year-old girl told detectives that Moore, who is not the girl's biological father, had beat her mother during the course of three days.

On Thursday, the girl said, he knocked the mother to the floor and began stomping on her head.

When the deputy asked how many times, the girl said, "I don't know. A lot."

The girl said she screamed for her mother when she noticed the bleeding.

"The child was extremely emotionally distraught," deputy Jonathan Behnen said in the report.

When the man was taken into custody, he told deputies, "No questions. Lawyer."

Robert Moore and Angela Lamkin were married on Valentine's Day last year. The ceremony was held at the Citrus County Courthouse.

About three months later, the couple had a child.

The family, including Angela's two children from a previous relationship, lived in the one-bedroom mobile home in Floral City.

Thursday, blood was smeared all over the floors, the report said.

According to the deputies, Moore had tried to clean up some of the blood. They found a piece of clothing that was soaked in blood in the laundry basket.

Moore, who has tattoos of the face of Jesus Christ and the face of a lion on his forearms, also appeared to have been drinking, the report said.

Robert Moore's mother agreed to take home the couple's 7-month-old infant.

Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Eddy Ramirez can be reached at eramirez@sptimes.com or 860-7305.

[Last modified January 26, 2007, 20:44:48]