Day two of trial against Hopewell man accused of killing 8-year-old P’Aris Moore

HOPEWELL, Va. (WRIC) — Day two of a three-day trial against the man accused of killing 8-year-old P’Aris Moore continued Wednesday, Feb. 18. Both sides have rested their cases after the Commonwealth had 11 witnesses testify. The defense did not call any witnesses or provide any evidence.

For a full recap of testimony from day one, click here.

Facts of the Case

On Dec. 30, 2022, P’Aris Moore was just days away from her ninth birthday when police say three men drove down the 2300 block of Freeman Street and shot her from inside the car.  

She was a third grader at Henry E. James Elementary School.

Now 21-year-old Rayquan Harvell, 19-year-old Brandon Warner and Jamari Taylor were arrested and charged with her murder in 2023.

Warner pleaded guilty in March and is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence. Harvell will face trial in June. They were both charged with first degree murder and felony use of firearm. 

Taylor’s charges are a bit different — he’s facing those two same charges as well as conspiracy to commit first degree murder and is the focus of this trial.

The murder weapon was never found.

Taylor is being represented by John Rockecharlie, while Jessica Bailey and Kurt Lockwood are leading the prosecution. Judge Wallace Brittle, Jr. is overseeing the case.

The jury is made up of 11 women and three men. There will be 12 jurors who decide Taylor's fate, and two are alternates.

Witness 1

The first witness the Commonwealth called was Dr. Jennifer Bowers, the chief medical examiner who performed the autopsy and took photos of P'Aris's body.

Dr. Bowers said P'Aris's gunshot wound was a quarter inch long, entering at the right shoulder and stopping in her right chest area going through a major artery in her heart.

Close-up photos of the wound were shown to the jury, a moment P'Aris's mom had to step out of the courtroom for.

The defense asked Dr. Bowers if her findings can determine who fired the shot. She said no.

Witness 2 and 3

The second witness was Officer Austin Thomas with the Colonial Heights Police Department.

Officer Thomas said he came into contact with Jamari Taylor on April 25, 2023, during a traffic stop. Taylor was the passenger in a car driven by a women who had outstanding warrants and was going to be arrested. Her car was going to be impounded, so Taylor left on foot.

During the stop, Officer Thomas said he saw a rifle in a black backpack on the driver's side floorboard of the back seat. He secured the rifle that had a red rubber band around the grip of the gun, and later obtained a warrant to collect Taylor's DNA and compare it to DNA found on the rifle.

The third witness was forensic scientist Stephen Rodgers who analyzed the firearm and Taylor's DNA. He tested the firearm and the red rubber band separately.

Rodgers said DNA on the gun cannot be concluded or eliminated as Taylor's, but the red rubber band was a match. The defense pointed out that it could not be proven if Taylor actually placed the rubber band on the gun.

Witness 4

The fourth witness was Detective Shawn Grant. He was also called to testify during day one.

Detective Grant conducted a search of Taylor's mother's home where he lived in Chesterfield in May of 2023. In a bedroom closet, he found a black and clear handgun magazine and nine millimeter ammunition.

In another bedroom, he found a gray and black semi-automatic nine millimeter handgun.

He said he did not interact with Taylor during the search.

In July of 2023, Detective Grant was pinged via Flock, a program used by law enforcement to capture license plates and other vehicle characteristics, for a silver Honda Civic. This car is what was seen near the scene after P'Aris was shot and is owned by Rayquan Harvell. Another detective on the case went over how she pieced together who owner the car on day one. Harvell later testified that it was his car seen on surveillance video from the Five Forks Food Mart on Berry Street.

The car was heading into Prince George County when Harvell was stopped at a Sheetz and taken into custody.

Witness 5

The fifth witness was Sergeant Christopher Hewett with the Hopewell Police Department.

By September of 2023, Brandon Warner, who pleaded guilty to killing P'Aris in 2025, had moved to Buffalo, N.Y. with his family. Sgt. Hewett said he assisted in going to Buffalo to bring Warner back to the Commonwealth for indictments related to P'Aris's death.

He obtained a black semi-automatic handgun and cellphone through a search warrant while up there.

Witness 6

The sixth witness was an employee with the Virginia Department of Forensic Science who analyzed the bullet that hit P'Aris, and several firearms obtained after the shooting.

She compared six firearms to the bullet found in P'Aris, but testified that none of them were a match as to what gun was fired, including the firearm obtained from Taylor's home by Detective Shawn Grant in May of 2023.

Witness 7

The seventh witness to testify was Rayquan Harvell. The 21-year-old is also charged for P'Aris's murder but is out on bond.

At the time of the shooting, he was 18. He said he'd known Brandon Warner since middle school, and that they were friends. He said he'd met Jamari Taylor only a few months prior and didn't consider him a friend.

On the day of the shooting, Taylor messaged Harvell on Instagram asking him for a ride from his home in Chester in exchange for gas money. Harvell had gotten a silver Honda Civic for Christmas a few days before. Harvell told Taylor he was on the way at 11:13 a.m.

Harvell said when he picked Taylor up, Warner was also with him. Harvell testified in court that Taylor was sitting in the front passenger seat and Warner sat in the back.

Harvell also said both of the men had firearms, but he did not. He said he didn't ask the two men why they had guns and that "it was normal."

As he drove, Harvell said they were listening to music and Taylor was giving him directions about where drive around Hopewell as he is not familiar with the area.

He remembers turning onto Freeman Street and seeing people outside. He said he heard a gun shot. He thought someone was shooting at them so he sped off.

"My ears was ringing," he said on the stand.

He said Taylor said something afterward about his gun jamming, and said they fought about Taylor shooting out of the window of Harvell's car while Warner was quiet in the back. Harvell then dropped the two men off.

He said he never told anyone about what happened that day, even after he learned P'Aris died.

"I was scared," he said on the stand.

He was interviewed by Detective Tara Clark with the Hopewell Police Department after he was taken into custody in Prince George County in July of 2023. He said he didn't tell her truth during that interview out of fear, but said he was telling the truth on the stand.

When asked by the Commonwealth why he testified, Harvell said, "It's the right thing to do." The defense said the right time to tell the truth was right after it happened and in his initial interviews with law enforcement.

Harvell said he's hopeful his testimony will help him when he faces trial in June, but said he hasn't been promised anything.

Harvell was facing other firearm and drug charges in Colonial Heights and Prince George County. Those charges were dropped in late 2023.

The defense entered 10 clips from two times Harvell was interrogated about P'Aris's death by Det. Clark.

Harvell told Det. Clark on July 10, 2023, that he didn't know anyone in Hopewell.

"I don't have no business in Hopewell," he said.

When she specifically asked if he knew Taylor, he said no.

In the second clip, Harvell said he "never" drove around with Taylor but said he did know Warner.

In the third clip, Harvell told Det. Clark that he'd be surprised that she was looking into Taylor and Warner's involvement in the shooting.

In the fourth clip, a male detective entered the interrogation room and said to Harvell, "I don't think you pulled the trigger." Det. Clark is heard saying "I second that." They said they believe Harvell was put in a bad situation as the driver of the car.

In the fifth clip, he said Taylor was sitting in the back seat of the car. This contradicts what he testified in court when he said Taylor was sitting in the front passenger seat.

In the sixth clip from July 11, 2023, he tells Det. Clark and a male detective, "If I knew who shot out I would tell you."

In the seventh clip, the male detective is heard telling Harvell that if he tells them who fired the gun, "It's gonna help you out." Harvell told them he didn't know. Harvell testified that he believes the detective told him that just to get him to talk.

The eighth clip showed Harvell saying again he does not know who fire the gun.

In the ninth clip, Harvell told Det. Clark he picked Taylor up on the day of the shooting, and then went somewhere else to get Warner. This contradicts what he testified in court when he said he picked them both up from Taylor's home.

In the tenth clip, the male detective is heard saying the information Harvell shared is "paramount" and that he will look into getting him bond for his charges in Prince George County, but that it was ultimately out of his hands.

"I think that was him trying to do his job and solve the case," Harvell said on the stand after hearing the clip.

Harvell said he's gone over the day of the shooting several times in different settings and that it was a long time ago. He said going to jail was on his mind, but he was primarily scared Taylor would "harm" him if he told the truth.

Witness 8

The eighth and final witness of the day was Detective Tara Clark. She is the lead detective on the case a testified on day one.

She said when interrogating potential suspects, she sometimes has to "give a little to get something back."

She said Harvell denied being involved with P'Aris's death multiple times.

Det. Clark obtained a search warrant for different Instagram accounts including Jamari Taylor's.

Two days after P'Aris was shot, Taylor posted a photo of an AR-style gun on his Instagram story saying it was for sale.

In messages between Warner, Taylor and Taylor's brother on Instagram, Taylor's brother tells the men, "Y'all boys watch yourselves." Warner responded, "Luckily I don't have a car." Taylor then asked for Harvell's number saying, "He's gonna rat."

In another Instagram conversation between Taylor and Warner on June 23, 2023, Taylor said, "You know what we did, you know what you did."

Taylor later writes to Warner, "You hit that little b*tch." Det. Clark got visibly emotional on the stand while reading this message.

In recorded jail calls between Warner and Taylor on August 10, 2023, Warner tells him about a Facebook post made by Hopewell's Commonwealth Attorney Rick Newman about indictments regarding P'Aris's death.

The two discuss Harvell being out on bond and that he possibly told law enforcement about the day of P'Aris's murder.

In a second recorded call, Taylor told Warner, ""I'm telling you how we are [going to] play it...We [are going to] play it like we weren't there."

"We weren't there though," Warner replied.

"I know how this murder sh*t go. 'I didn't do it. I don't know who did it,'" Taylor said.

In a third call, Taylor finds the charges he's facing for P'Aris's murder.

"I got seven of them b*tches," referencing the three charges he's facing for P'Aris's death and four other charges, including a separate second degree murder charge from 2023 in Colonial Heights that has since been dropped.

Jurors were asked to disregard the third phone call when they deliberate as they are not to know about Taylor's charges in other cases.

Defense's Evidence

The defense did not provide any evidence or call any witnesses.

After the jurors and judge left the courtroom, Taylor was taken to the holding cell. With officers' backs turned away from the holding cell door, Taylor was seen cracking the door open and making a derogatory motion suggesting oral sex toward P'Aris's mother and friends and family with her for support.

Commonwealth Attorney Jessica Bailey said she saw it. Taylor's attorney said he did not.

With both sides resting their case, jurors will hear closing arguments and begin deliberating on Thursday, Feb. 19.