Rita Loncharich, 65, was browsing for books at a Barnes & Noble store in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, shortly before Christmas, when a stranger suddenly stabbed her to death.
The arrest affidavit, obtained by Complex through Palm Beach County Courts, identifies the suspect as Antonio Roderick Moore. He has been charged with murder.
On December 22, 2025, at approximately 7:53 p.m., Palm Beach Gardens police responded to the store for a stabbing. They found "a female inside Barnes and Noble with a knife embedded in her back inside the store," the affidavit says.
They immediately developed a suspect based on eyewitness accounts and a surveillance video from inside the store. They found him about 1,500 feet from the Barnes & Noble store's entrance.
"Rita was unresponsive when law enforcement was on scene prior to medical transport to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach," police wrote, and she died in surgery.
"Antonio has been in Palm Beach Gardens for about a week, coming from Georgia by bus," the affidavit says.
"Antonio went to Barnes and Noble with his red and blue bags with him. While in the store, Antonio was charging his phone inside the store. Antonio willfully admitted to stabbing a woman in the back inside Barnes and Noble and running out of the store."
The affidavit alleged that Moore told police "there was no prior interaction with Rita, or motive as to why he stabbed Rita in the back. Antonio stated there was an internal buildup that led to his fight or flight response kicking in, with Rita being the closest person inside the store."
He was taken into custody on a charge of premeditated murder.
“It’s terrible that anybody can’t walk into a regular store without being fearful of being stabbed,” said David, a Barnes & Noble customer, to CBS 12.
Two other unrelated random attacks led to deaths in the Palm Beach Gardens community in the last few years, the television station reported.