He was murdered on June 2, 1965, by alleged members of the Ku Klux Klan in a drive-by shooting, one year and a day after his landmark appointment as deputy sheriff.
The evening of June 2, 1965, Moore was driving home from work when an individual in a pickup truck shot at him and his partner, David Creed Rogers, another African-American deputy sheriff.
Moore lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree, dying instantly from a gunshot wound to the head.
[1] Rogers suffered injuries, including to one eye, but survived the shooting and crash; he immediately broadcast a description of the vehicle, which he noted had a Confederate flag decal on its front bumper.
The Deacons for Defense and Justice, an African-American group with a chapter organized in 1965 in Bogalusa, Louisiana, among other chapters, to protect civil rights workers, provided armed protection and support for Moore's widow and family.