Talisha Moore-Real left after reporting gunfire, then returned before LaQuita Baker was struck and killed, according to prosecutors.
DECATUR, Ga. — About six minutes separated Talisha Moore-Real’s 911 report that someone had fired at her rental car from the return to a DeKalb County motel that ended with LaQuita Baker fatally struck in the parking lot, according to prosecutors. Nearly a year later, that sequence helped lead to Moore-Real’s murder conviction and a life sentence with parole eligibility plus 10 years.
The short interval was one part of a confrontation that unfolded through repeated arguments, departures and returns on Sept. 29, 2025. Prosecutors said Moore-Real, 35, first confronted Baker’s daughter, later argued with a former boyfriend and ultimately drove toward Baker, Baker’s daughter and a 17-year-old relative. A DeKalb County jury convicted Moore-Real on Aug. 7 of malice murder, felony murder, three counts of aggravated assault and first-degree cruelty to children. Superior Court Judge Tangela Barrie imposed the sentence Sept. 1.
The encounter began at a motel in the 3700 block of Flat Shoals Road. Investigators said Baker’s daughter was dating a man Moore-Real had previously dated. Moore-Real and Baker’s daughter argued at the property, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office. Authorities have described the disagreement as relationship-related but have not publicly identified the man in the reports reviewed. The available material also does not provide a detailed account of the words exchanged during that first argument or how long the confrontation initially lasted.
Prosecutors said the dispute escalated when Moore-Real rammed a vehicle belonging to one of Baker’s relatives. She then left the motel. The first departure is important to the prosecution’s chronology because the fatal collision did not occur during the original argument. Authorities said Moore-Real later returned, creating a sequence in which the parties were separated more than once before the encounter that killed Baker. Public accounts do not establish what Moore-Real did or where she went during every interval away from the property.
On a subsequent return, Moore-Real argued with the former boyfriend, prosecutors said. She then drove away again. As the rental car was leaving, the man fired shots toward the vehicle. Moore-Real called 911 and reported the gunfire. The available sources do not say she was struck or physically injured by the shots. They also do not establish whether the former boyfriend was arrested or charged for firing toward the car. That question remained unresolved in the public reporting reviewed after Moore-Real’s sentencing.
Prosecutors said roughly six minutes passed before Moore-Real came back to the motel. Baker, Baker’s daughter and the teenage relative were together in the parking lot. Authorities said Moore-Real drove toward the group. Baker attempted to get out of the vehicle’s path, but prosecutors said Moore-Real steered toward her, struck her and ran over her before leaving. The state treated that final return differently from the earlier arguments because it alleged deliberate use of the vehicle against people in the parking lot.
The presence of Baker’s daughter and the 17-year-old relative also expanded the case beyond Baker’s death. Moore-Real was charged with three counts of aggravated assault and first-degree cruelty to children in addition to the murder counts. The publicly available sources do not identify the teenage relative, and they do not establish whether either of the two surviving people suffered physical injuries. The criminal charges nevertheless reflected prosecutors’ allegation that more than one person was placed in danger during the final approach of the vehicle.
A 911 report that someone had been hit and run over brought DeKalb County police to the motel at about 10:40 p.m. Officers arrived while paramedics were treating Baker. She was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where authorities said she was pronounced dead. Baker was 53. Investigators then began working backward through the evening’s sequence, gathering accounts from witnesses and looking for evidence that could establish which vehicle was involved and whether the collision had been intentional.
Surveillance recordings became a major part of that inquiry. Prosecutors said cameras at the motel and a nearby gas station captured the collision. A witness also took a photograph of the vehicle’s license plate. Detectives traced the plate to a rental company at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Moore-Real had already returned the car by the time police reached the company, according to the district attorney’s office. The rental business then provided the vehicle to investigators.
Moore-Real later gave police an explanation that disputed the prosecution’s account of intent. Authorities said she told investigators she did not see anyone in front of her and had not meant to strike anyone. Prosecutors said the video contradicted that statement. The public record reviewed does not include a complete transcript of Moore-Real’s interview, the surveillance videos themselves or the full trial testimony surrounding them. It does establish that the prosecution relied on those recordings to challenge her description of the collision.
The case eventually went before a jury in DeKalb County Superior Court. Official court calendars list Moore-Real’s case and the six charges: malice murder, felony murder, three aggravated-assault counts and first-degree cruelty to children. On Aug. 7, jurors found her guilty on all counts announced by the district attorney’s office. That jury verdict resolves an inconsistency in some secondary coverage that later described the case as involving a guilty plea. The official and prosecutor-backed record identifies a trial and jury conviction instead.
The sentencing hearing came 25 days later. Barrie ordered Moore-Real to serve life with the possibility of parole plus 10 years. The public materials reviewed do not contain a full sentencing transcript, and they do not provide verified quotations from the judge, Moore-Real or members of Baker’s family at the hearing. The sources also do not explain in detail how every count was treated for purposes of the additional 10-year term. The confirmed sentence is therefore reported without adding reasoning or statements not contained in the available record.
Viewed as a chronology, the case is marked by several breaks in the confrontation. There was an initial argument, an alleged vehicle ramming, a departure, a later return, another argument, a second departure accompanied by gunfire and then the final return about six minutes later. Prosecutors used that sequence, together with the video, to argue that Baker’s death was not the result of an unnoticed pedestrian suddenly appearing in front of a moving car. The jury ultimately accepted the state’s case and returned murder convictions.
The timeline also leaves some issues unresolved. The man who fired at Moore-Real’s rental car has not been publicly identified in the sources reviewed, and the available reports do not establish whether he faced criminal charges. The material likewise does not show a later appellate ruling changing Moore-Real’s convictions. Those matters remain separate from the judgment entered after trial, which established her guilt on the six counts presented to the jury.
What began as a series of separate confrontations and returns to the motel ended with a jury deciding that Baker’s death was a murder, not an unintended collision. Moore-Real remains convicted on all six counts and under a life sentence with parole eligibility plus 10 years, while the available public record does not resolve whether anyone was charged over the earlier gunfire.
Author note: Last updated October 19, 2026.