A Libby man who admitted his role in the negligent shooting death of his 3-year-old son was sentenced Monday to serve time in the Montana State Prison.

    Samuel Moore
  

Timothy Frederick Allen Moore, 24, pleaded guilty to one felony count of negligent homicide in December. Charges of felony possession of dangerous drugs and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia were dismissed as part of a plea deal with the county attorney’s office.

Monday, Lincoln County District Court Matt Cuffe followed the joint agreement between county attorney Marcia Boris and defense attorney Ben Darrow in sentencing Moore to 20 years, with 5 suspended, to the prison in Deer Lodge. Moore received credit for serving 287 days in custody in the county Detention Center.

Moore remains locked up with his bail at $500,000.

Relatives of 3-year-old Samuel Aurther Moore, who had just turned 3 on May 18 before his death on May 27, spoke with sorrow and courage about the loss of their beloved family member.

“Tim, you convinced my daughter you were a good person and then you hit her in the stomach after she was pregnant,” Timothy James, the child’s grandfather, said at the hearing. “You took him away from being able to graduate school, have a life of his own, time with his grandpa, hunting and fishing. Two months before his death, a neighbor saw you beat him to the ground and you told him to mind his own business.”

He also shared what a fighter Samuel was.

“He was 4 pounds, 5 ounces when he was born. He had four holes in his heart and when he was three months old, he went to Seattle for heart surgery, but he was a fighter,” James said.

James read a written statement by Beth James, Samuel’s mother.

“Tim, you took Sam from me and his sister,” she said. “You’re a cold-hearted man and I hope you rot in hell.”

An 11-year-old family member went to the witness stand to express his feelings.

“Tim, I’m very, very disappointed in you. Look at all these people that are here because of what you’ve done,” he said. “I love you, but what you did was wrong.”

Moore also spoke.

“I know I made a poor choice and while I don’t agree with everything that was said by the family about me, I know what I did was wrong and I accept it. I won’t get to see my son grow up,”                                   

According to a press release from Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short, his office received a report at 10:05 a.m. Tuesday, May 27, about a child who had been shot at 64 Granite Creek Road, south of Libby.

When law officers and Libby Volunteer Ambulance members arrived at the scene they were told a 3-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the face.

The child was taken to Cabinet Peaks Medical Center where he later died.

At the scene of the shooting, officers processed evidence. The child was taken to the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula for an autopsy.   

According to the charging document filed by Boris, Captain Brandon Huff was first on the scene, followed by Det. Anthony Jenson at 10:13 a.m. Jenson found the accused sitting on the road, reportedly in an altered mental state. Jenson didn’t know if Moore was under the influence of drugs or in shock.

When Jenson tried to talk to Moore, the man allegedly asked Det. Jenson to shoot him. Jenson continued to question Moore and the defendant said he was inside the residence when he placed his gun on the couch and went outside to smoke.

Moore then said he heard a popping sound, ran inside and found the child holding the gun and a gunshot wound to the head. Capt. Huff later saw a .22 caliber handgun laying on the couch.

After the ambulance left the home, Det. Jenson and Moore moved back to the front of the trailer house. After a few minutes, Moore became aggressive toward Capt. Huff and was taken into custody.

When an officer began to put handcuffs on Moore, Det. Jenson reported seeing “track” marks, consistent with intravenous drug use, on his arm. Two magazines for a .22 caliber handgun were allegedly in his pants pocket.

While Det. Brandon Holzer worked to secure the residence, an adult woman, L.H., who also lives there, asked for the keys to her vehicle and her prescription medicine.

Det. Holzer walked up to the doorway and reported finding a clear glass pipe laying at the top of the stairs. The pipe, which was consistent with those used to smoke illegal narcotics, appeared to have a light-colored residue inside it.

According to the affidavit, Det. Holzer went inside to find L.H.’s medication and found a multi-colored silicone container with a crystal-like substance in it. The substance appeared to be consistent with methamphetamine.

Moore was later charged to have knowingly caused or permitted the child to inhale, be exposed to, have contact with or ingest methamphetamine or have contact with methamphetaminre later de paraphernalia.

Those charges were later dropped.