Jennifer Dana Moore told detectives the revolver had no safety and fired by accident, authorities said.
ALLEGAN, Mich. — A woman accused of killing her boyfriend in Cheshire Township told police the shooting was accidental, but investigators said she also admitted pointing a revolver at him before it fired.
The question of intent is now central to the open murder case against Jennifer Dana Moore, 44. Authorities said Joseph Wayne Worley, 52, died April 22 from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head inside the couple’s home on East Baseline Road. Moore has been ordered held without bond while the case moves through Allegan County’s 57th District Court. She is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Police said Moore gave two kinds of statements after the shooting. In the first, made during the emergency call and at the home, she repeatedly said she shot Worley. In the second, made during an interview with detectives, she said she did not mean to kill him. According to the probable cause account described in court records, Moore told investigators that the couple argued after dinner in Paw Paw. She said Worley became upset after a comment she made, flipped over a couch and locked himself in a bedroom. Moore said she pleaded with him to open the door. When he did, she grabbed a gun from a table or nightstand.
That part of the account became more serious when Moore described what happened as Worley left the bedroom area. Investigators said she admitted pointing the firearm at his back while he was walking toward the kitchen. She also used her hand to mimic a gun motion and described it as “like Doc Holliday,” a reference to the Old West figure known for his reputation as a gunman. Moore told detectives the revolver fired because it did not have a safety. She said she did not intend to shoot Worley. Police have not publicly released a full recording of the interview in the reports reviewed for this article.
The evidence reported at the scene did not resolve the intent question, but it gave prosecutors a basis to charge the case as murder. Deputies found Worley on the floor near the kitchen and living room. A black revolver was later reported on the kitchen counter. Court records described a bloody wound at the rear base of Worley’s head. Investigators also noted a bullet hole in a bedroom television, which they said supported the claim that the gun fired in the bedroom at some point. What remains unknown is whether prosecutors have additional forensic evidence, including gunshot residue findings, a final autopsy report or detailed ballistics work.
The 911 call put officers on the scene shortly after 10 p.m. Moore told a dispatcher, “I just shot my boyfriend,” according to police. Deputies said they first saw her on the porch, then watched as she moved back inside. Officers kept visual contact with her through the doorway and a window. The affidavit said Moore was very emotional and crying while saying, “I shot him” and “I killed him.” Deputies also said they saw a person’s feet on the ground through a window while Moore stood over the body. After officers ordered her out, she complied and was taken into custody.
Open murder gives prosecutors room to argue the evidence supports a murder charge while the court later determines the specific degree. Local reports said the possible penalty, if convicted of the most serious form of the charge, could include life in prison without parole. Prosecutors argued during arraignment that Moore should remain jailed because of the seriousness of the accusation, the safety risk they said she posed and concerns that she had limited ties to Allegan County. Magistrate Meredith Beidler agreed and denied bond. The court record cited in reports listed a probable cause conference and preliminary examination as the next steps.
The case also depends on a short timeline that investigators are still filling in. The couple went out to dinner in Paw Paw earlier that evening. They returned to the home in southern Allegan County, near Baseline Lake and the Van Buren County line. An argument followed. Worley went into the bedroom. A revolver was in the room. At least one shot damaged the bedroom television. Worley then moved toward the kitchen. Police said Moore pointed the gun at his back. A fatal shot struck him in the back of the head. Moore then called 911 and reported the shooting. Police have not said exactly how much time passed between each step.
Neighbors told local television reporters that Moore and Worley had recently moved into the rental home. That detail mattered during the bond hearing because prosecutors and the court discussed Moore’s local ties. The address is in a spread-out part of Cheshire Township, a rural area with homes, lakes and roads connecting small communities in Allegan and Van Buren counties. The late-night response brought deputies, city police, state police, fire crews, emergency medical workers, crime lab staff and the medical examiner’s office into a case that began with Moore’s own call to dispatchers.
Worley’s obituary described him as a father, outdoorsman, master electrician and nuclear technician. Those details gave the public record a fuller picture of the man killed, beyond the police description of the scene. The affidavit and charging documents focus on the moments before and after the gun fired. The obituary focuses on a life that included work, family and time outdoors. In court, however, the central issue is narrower: whether the state can prove Moore acted with the mental state required for murder, despite her claim that the discharge was accidental.
Moore’s next listed hearings were May 7 and May 12, when a judge was expected to review whether the case should move forward. No later public ruling was located in the available reports. The case remains at the stage where police statements, court records and forensic findings will shape what charge prosecutors can pursue.
Author note: Last updated May 21, 2026.