Deputies identified Ashia La Shai Moore as the victim and arrested a 17-year-old person of interest on an evidence-tampering charge.
LAKE CITY, FL — A pregnant 16-year-old girl was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound inside her Columbia County apartment Wednesday, and investigators later arrested a 17-year-old person of interest on a charge of tampering with evidence, authorities said.
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as Ashia La Shai Moore, who lived at the apartment where deputies found her. Local news reports, citing Moore’s family and the sheriff’s office, said she was seven months pregnant. Authorities are investigating her death as a homicide but have not publicly announced a murder charge in the case.
Deputies went to 4826 U.S. Highway 441 South, Apartment 102, at about 4 p.m. Sept. 9 for a well-being check, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Deputies made several announcements at the residence before entering through an unlocked door. Inside, they found Moore on the floor, dead from what investigators described as an apparent gunshot wound. Her family was notified after authorities confirmed her identity.
As detectives investigated the shooting, they identified 17-year-old Dominique Santonio Hill as a person of interest, the Sheriff’s Office said. Investigators interviewed Hill and then arrested him on a charge of tampering with evidence. He was booked into the Columbia County Detention Facility without bond. Authorities have not said what evidence Hill is accused of tampering with or publicly described the evidence that led detectives to identify him as a person of interest.
The Sheriff’s Office’s initial public statement did not identify Hill as the person who shot Moore and did not announce a homicide charge against him. The investigation remains active. Authorities also have not released a motive or a detailed account of what happened before Moore was found in the apartment.
Action News Jax reported that Moore’s family and the Sheriff’s Office confirmed she was about seven months pregnant. A family friend told the station that Hill was the father of Moore’s unborn child. The Sheriff’s Office’s initial written statement did not describe the relationship between Moore and Hill, so that relationship has not been independently established through the agency’s public release.
Friends who spoke with Action News Jax remembered Moore as loyal, smart and full of life. They said she had been preparing to become a mother. The accounts added a personal dimension to a case that remained under investigation as detectives worked to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Public reports about the investigation have described Hill as Moore’s boyfriend, but the most detailed initial statement from the Sheriff’s Office identified him only as a person of interest. No publicly released information reviewed as of Friday established that Hill had been charged with causing Moore’s death. His evidence-tampering charge is an allegation, and it does not establish responsibility for the homicide.
Investigators have asked anyone with information about Moore’s death to contact the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 386-719-2005. Anonymous information may be provided through Crime Stoppers of Columbia County at 386-754-7099. Authorities had not announced additional homicide charges or released a motive as of Friday.
Author note: Last updated September 11, 2026.