PREVIOUSLY:

• Eureka Woman Arrested in Connection With Early Morning Homicide Near Hikshari Trail
• Eureka Police: Victim in July 4 Homicide Was 19-Year-Old Eureka Woman; Suspect Will Be Held on Torture Charges

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A mother of infant twins was arraigned today on charges of murdering and torturing a 19-year-old woman who was stabbed to death with a pair of shears.

Daniella Patricia Moore, 40, is charged with one count of murder and one count of torture in the death of Hannah Elizabeth Hayhurst, found dead July 4 in a parking lot at the foot of Hilfiker Lane. An autopsy the next day revealed multiple stab wounds.

Moore.

The murder charge carries the special allegations of torture and use of a deadly weapon. According to the complaint filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the deadly weapon was shears.

Today Deputy Public Defender Ben McLaughlin entered not guilty pleas on behalf of Moore, who was handcuffed and wearing a blue jail jumpsuit. Moore looked stoic but at times cried during the brief arraignment. Visiting Judge Marjorie Carter, at the request of District Attorney Maggie Fleming, ordered that Moore be held without bail.

“It appears that is appropriate,” the judge said.

Several of Hayhurst’s family members were in court, accompanied by a representative from the Victim Witness Office.

Moore’s next court appearance will be Aug. 7, when the defense and prosecution will discuss the status of evidence in the case. The preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 23.

Fleming estimated the hearing will take four hours, though she said the investigation is “ongoing.”

According to Moore’s Facebook page, she has twins — a son and a daughter — who were born in March. Facebook pictures show Moore hugely pregnant and accompanied by a smiling man who is kissing her on the cheek. But later she posted that “Tyson” had abandoned her.

“Apparently Tyson has decided that [the children] are not his,” Moore wrote. “He still hasn’t contacted us. He quit a job he loved and was just promoted at. Everything he loved and worked for thrown away. If you see him remind him his babies miss him for us.”

One of Moore’s Facebook friends blamed the alleged killing on Moore’s drug use, postpartum depression, “love, jealousy and loneliness.”

Moore has a long rap sheet that includes convictions for assault.