Alabama woman pleads guilty in 2019 baseball bat beating death of man found in a barrel

ONEONTA, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama woman has pleaded guilty to the role she played in the 2019 death of a man who was beaten by a baseball bat and whose body was found stuffed in a barrel.

Sara Burgess Moore, 40, of Blountsville, on Thursday entered the plea to a charge of felony murder in the slaying of Adam Beard, Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey said Friday.

Beard, 35, a father of six, had been missing for three days when his decomposing body was found Sept. 3, 2019. He had been beaten to death and was wrapped in plastic inside a barrel behind Moore’s trailer in Blountsville, al.com reported.

Moore also was initially charged with capital murder during a robbery and had been set to go to trial next week. As part of a plea agreement, she was sentenced to 50 years in prison, the news site reported.

An investigation suggested robbery may have been the motive, Casey said.

Casey said three other people face charges of capital murder in Beard’s death. Trial dates for Haley Ragsdale, 23, Ryan Hunter Farr, 24, and Jesus “Jesse” Flores, 43, have not yet been set.

Moore told investigators Beard arrived at her trailer to get a phone from Flores. When he got inside, Flores and Farr began taking turns hitting him in the head with a bat. After repeatedly striking Beard, Moore said, the men put a garbage bag over Beard’s head because he was still breathing and “he wouldn’t die.” The men then tied him up and put the body under the trailer.

Moore said Farr and Flores took drugs and money out of Beard’s pocket. She said they also tossed Beard’s cellphone into a field behind the trailer. According to Moore, Hunter and Flores moved the body from under the trailer to the barrel.

Investigators recovered Beard’s scooter, which they said was sold by one of the suspects for $300. They also recovered Beard’s cellphone. A baseball bat was found near the barrel where Beard’s body was found.