‘Step forward’: Family, friends raise reward for arrest in slaying of beloved Gastonia barber

GASTONIA, N.C. — It has been eight months since beloved Gastonia barber John Moore was killed during a home invasion, and the reward for information on who committed the crime has increased from $2,000 to $5,000.

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“He was like my brother,” friend Kimberly Nichols said. “We were together every single day.”

They were good friends while learning to style hair at Next Level Barber Academy until the day Moore was killed in his home on Allison Street.

Someone went into Moore’s home in July and shot him in the living room.

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No one has been arrested.

“He doesn’t deserve to die in vain,” Nichols said.

Last weekend, friends sold dinner plates to raise money for the award leading to an arrest.

“Just a real pure spirit, said Justin Marlow, owner at Next Level Barber Academy. “To want to take from this man was unnecessary.”

No one has used the barber’s chair Moore used, and no one will rest until they have answers,” Marlow said.

John Moore’s brother, Stephon Moore, said he wants someone to come forward.

“It’s unthinkable. It’s unimaginable,” Stephon told Channel 9 by phone.

He said he wants to believe people will speak out to the police because it’s the right thing to do.

“Step forward. Share that information,” he said.

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