JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An arrest report for a Jacksonville man accused of murder details what police believe led to the shooting death of a man who was reported missing and was later found wrapped in plastic in Georgia.
On Nov. 10, 2022, authorities received a call at La Quinta Inn on Lenoir Avenue about a missing person. They met with Maria Quinone, who told the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office that she, John Moss, Timothy Peeples and Danielle Church were celebrating her son’s birthday on Halloween at a home on Meadow Lea Circle near Lem Turner Road earlier that day.
Quinone and Moss share two children together but weren’t dating at the time of his death.
After the party, according to JSO, Quinone said Moss was drunk in the living room of the home and began yelling out, “I’m going to cut my baby mama’s head off!”
The report said that Quinone told police that she could hear what he was saying but did not feel threatened by it.
The report said Peeples was in another room when Moss was making the threatening remarks. Peeples came out of the room to confront Moss about what he said then told him to leave the home.
Church, who also witnessed the encounter, told authorities that Quinone and Peeples had a brief sexual relationship behind Moss’ back and at the birthday party, the two were flirting to make Moss jealous, according to the report.
The report redacted what happened after Moss was confronted, but Quinone told police when she opened the door, she saw Moss laying on the ground, bleeding from his head.
Quinone then said to police that Peeples and Church came into a bedroom with her and the two children and began hugging her to prevent her from going into the living room, the report said.
Due to the redactions, it’s unclear what happened between the time Moss was shot and when his body was discovered in Georgia.
In the days after the shooting, Peeples told others that he felt like Moss’ spirit was still in the home and everyone needed to get out of the house, JSO said. So, according to the report, everyone left for Orlando.
The report said Peeples returned to Jacksonville where they remained at Quinone’s home until Quinone’s sister called JSO on Nov. 8 for a welfare check.
Peeples hid in a back bedroom with Quinone’s children while police were at the residence, the report said. After officers left, Peeples took off and Quinone told police she never saw him again. She then took her kids to the La Quinta Inn, where she called and filed a missing person report for Moss.
On November 10, Moss’ body was found wrapped in plastic in a creek in Brantley County, Georgia, which is a half-mile from where Peeples’ lived with his ex-wife. Authorities said Moss was shot once in the head.
The Brantley County Sheriff’s Office found Moss’ body and reported it and called the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to assist with the investigation. The GBI contacted JSO because Moss was from Jacksonville.
When police interviewed both women, they told authorities that Moss was not known to carry a gun and was paranoid about the people around him having guns. Church said Peeples sometimes would lend a gun to Moss to help scare away a “rival drug dealer on their turf” but would take it back when the threat was gone.
Several other people were also interviewed, including Peeple’s ex-wife.
In February, Jami Robinson, who was arrested for an unrelated case, said she wanted to talk to JSO about the homicide.
Peeples was arrested on Feb. 8 during a traffic stop for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
In May, JSO interviewed another person who alleged to have brought fentanyl from Peeples at a Motel 6 two weeks after the shooting. She said that Peeples told her some details about that night and said she felt bad because of the kids.
Peeples was arrested and charged with murder, abuse of a dead body, tampering with evidence and four counts of false imprisonment on two adults and two minors.