Butch Moore learned of the death of his 20-year-old curly-haired daughter early Thursday morning. Two days later in an Anchorage courtroom, he confronted the 22-year-old man, Joshua Almeda, who faces a murder charge in her killing. This was a man, he said, his daughter had loved.
"We never saw her because everything she did, she did it for Joshua," Moore said to a full courtroom Saturday at the Anchorage Correctional Complex. "She picked him up. She dropped him off. She was always with him. Nothing else mattered."
Police found Moore's daughter, Breanna Moore, dead Thursday in the Almeda family's Hillside home. Almeda's mother had dialed 911 around 12:30 a.m. after she awoke to her son's screams. She went to his bedroom in the basement and found Moore with a single gunshot wound to the head and a handgun lying nearby. She took the gun and hid it from her son in the dishwasher, according to a probable-cause statement written by Anchorage Police Department Detective Monique Doll.
Almeda was arrested that morning. He faces charges of second-degree murder, theft and misconduct involving a weapon, all felonies.
In court Saturday, he stood behind a glass window with his hands folded atop a podium and his hair neatly spiked. He muttered short answers to Magistrate Judge Christina Teaford, telling her he was employed with a salary of about $3,000 a month. His responses factored into his bail.
Butch Moore and Aaron Jabaay, an assistant district attorney, both asked Teaford to set a high bail for Almeda, whom they described as a dangerous flight risk with a lengthy criminal record.
Teaford ultimately set it at $1.5 million cash. She said Almeda's repeated combinations of alcohol, guns and assaults define him as a "significant and ongoing danger to the community." If he posts bail, he cannot go home.
"The conditions of that release would absolutely include no alcohol, no bars, no liquor stores," Teaford said. "Absolutely no firearms. No contact with any of the witnesses -- that would include, at the very least, no contact with your mother. You are not to go back to that residence there at 10601 Treeline Ct."
In interviews with police detectives after his arrest, Almeda said he did not shoot Breanna Moore. Almeda told detectives that the couple had been drinking that evening. He said he was brushing his teeth in the basement bathroom when he heard a loud bang. He said he ran into the bedroom and found Moore lying face up on the bed and bleeding, Doll wrote.
Police who responded to the 911 call said Almeda appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. He initially denied knowing about the handgun that had lay on the bed next to Moore, but later he told detectives it was his gun and he kept it on a bedroom shelf behind a picture, according to Doll.
"He did not know who took the gun from behind the picture and stated repeatedly that he did not remember the events after yelling for his mother," Doll wrote. "He confirmed that only he and Moore were present in the basement at the time of the shooting."
Almeda further told detectives that he did not think Moore would commit suicide, though he also did not think the incident was "a 'cold blooded' murder," Doll wrote.
Butch Moore called it an "execution" when speaking in the courtroom. He described his daughter, a Dimond High graduate, as a "wonderful person" who everyone loved.
"She was one of the best ones on this planet," Moore said.
Moore was joined in the courtroom by family, including Breanna Moore's mother, Cindy, and two older sisters, 26-year-old Brandi and 22-year-old Brooke. All three women wore necklaces with tiny charms engraved with the letter "B." Cindy Moore wailed into her daughter's shoulder for much of the proceedings.
Outside of the courtroom, the family said they had known Almeda for nearly a year. He was a graduate of Service High, where he played on the football and baseball teams. Moore's parents said they had eaten dinner with Almeda's parents at their Hillside home. To the Moore family, Almeda's tangled criminal record remained in the shadows until Thursday, Butch Moore said.
Jabaay detailed that criminal record Saturday.
The timeline started in February 2011, when Almeda pled guilty to charges of driving under the influence and misconduct involving a weapon. Jabaay said the charges stemmed from an incident at Club Millennium. Almeda had a blood alcohol level of .171 when he got into his truck and tried to run over a person. A handgun was found on him, Jabaay said.
In November 2011, he was convicted of disorderly conduct when he assaulted his mother. In October 2012, he was drinking at a party and threw a woman to the ground, Jabaay said.
"He was asked to leave, so he stole the host's truck," he said.
Then in November 2013, he was acquitted of four charges related to an assault on his girlfriend at the time, police said. According to charging documents, Almeda had been drinking when the assault occurred. His girlfriend went to his parents for help. When police arrived they found bullet holes in the house, window and his girlfriend's car door.
During the trial, Almeda's parents were granted Fifth Amendment immunity and as a result did not testify before jurors. Jabaay said that's because they had tried tried to fix the crime scene.
"The state had to give the parents immunity at trial because the parents cleaned up the house, cleaned up the blood and stored the weapon," Jabaay said.
At the time of Moore's death, Almeda was on probation for a misconduct involving a controlled substance conviction from 2013. Both alcohol and handguns should have been out of reach.
Teaford scheduled Almeda's second court appearance for 2 p.m. Tuesday. He is currently being held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.
Breanna Moore's family has planned a celebration of life at Kincaid Park Chalet from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday for all of her friends and loved ones, Brooke Moore said.
Contact Tegan Hanlon at thanlon@adn.com.