A woman who recently ended an approximately two-year affair with ex-Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore told law enforcement he grabbed butter knives from a drawer and pointed them at her after barging into her apartment, recently obtained court records show.
Details from the statements made by the woman, an executive assistant to the head coach, were used Friday to charge Moore. He was charged with third-degree felony home invasion, misdemeanor stalking and misdemeanor breaking and entering.
‘(The woman) advised that she was carrying her belongings downstairs to leave, and while inside of her apartment she heard footsteps outside. (She) indicated that she ran towards the door to secure it, but before she could, Mr. Moore swung the door open and barged into her apartment with tears in his eyes,’ the court document reads.
‘(The woman) indicated that she was approximately 5 feet from the door when he made entry. She advised that she began backing up and as he was approaching her. (She) advised that Moore grabbed two knives out of her drawer and pointed them at her, ‘You ruined my life. You ruined my life.’”
Moore, 39, admitted to having an affair with the executive assistant but denied threatening her, records show. He was not charged with assault. He posted $25,000 bond Friday, Dec. 12.
‘Mr. Moore admitted to removing the knives and stated that he had threatened to kill himself. Mr. Moore denied physically assaulting (the executive assistant) and denied threatening her with any weapons,’ the record states.
While other court records redacted the name of the executive assistant, the transcript from the closed Friday hearing did not. The Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Co., generally does not identify people described as domestic crime victims without their consent.
The information the executive assistant gave to police, and police presented at a court hearing Friday, Dec. 12, is different than how prosecutors described what happened when they charged Moore.
“While I understand that there isn’t evidence to suggest that he directly threatened the victim with any of those (knives) that I’ve indicated, the totality of the behavior is highly threatening and highly intimidating. She was terrorized, your honor,’ Kati Rezmierski, first assistant prosecutor for Washtenaw County, said during a public court hearing.
The woman told police that night of the incident that ‘she has never been more terrified in her life.’
Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit described his charging decision in a statement sent to the Free Press on Saturday, Dec. 12.
“As was stated at the arraignment (Friday, Dec. 12), the evidence that is available at this time indicates that Mr. Moore had an intent to terrorize and harass the victim — which is the basis for the stalking charge. Given that his statements were those of self-harm, however, there was not sufficient evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, an intent to assault or batter the victim,’ Savit said.
‘As indicated in our release (Friday) announcing charges against Mr. Moore, this matter remains under active investigation and, as with any case, we may add or amend charges as new evidence comes in.”
Moore’s lawyer Joseph Simon provided a statement in response to questions about why his client was not charged with assault.
‘Your question highlights the need to first obtain and review all evidence against every element of the charged offenses before making speculative comments or conclusions and that is what we intended to do,’ Simon said in a text message sent Saturday to the Free Press.
The executive assistant’s lawyer, listed in the court record as Heidi Sharp, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Before Moore was publicly charged, Detective Jessica Welker of the Pittsfield Township Police Department provided sworn testimony about the actions underlying the ultimate charges.
This occurred during what’s called a ‘complaint authorization hearing.’ It occurred in front of Magistrate Odetalla Odetalla, about an hour before Moore was formally charged. It was closed to the public, but the Free Press obtained a transcript.
The transcript cites law enforcement ‘dispatch,’ indicating the executive assistant’s lawyer first called police, saying, ‘her client, had called her saying Sherrone Moore was inside of her home, attacking her.’
The transcript later indicates police met the lawyer at the executive assistant’s Ann Arbor apartment. When they arrived, the lawyer, ‘advised that Moore had a long history of domestic violence against (the executive assistant), and that he was very dangerous.’
Welker, the detective, goes on to provide more detail from the executive assistant and her lawyer.
‘(The executive assistant) advised that she continued to back up, telling him to leave, and he continued towards her with the knives, backing her towards the living room,’ the transcript states.
‘(The executive assistant) advised that she was trying to call her attorney, and it wasn’t until she got her attorney on the phone and put her on speaker — and Moore heard her voice — that he immediately backed up and turned the knives on himself, pointing them at his neck, saying that he was going to kill himself and that she was going to watch.’
Moore then left, the transcript states. The executive assistant saw he left the butter knives on the counter. She locked the door, the transcript states. The executive assistant’s lawyer also provided police with text messages purportedly from Moore to the executive assistant.
One, allegedly sent around the time Moore arrived at the apartment, said, ‘I hate you. My blood is on your hand.’
The executive assistant tried to end communications with Moore on Monday, Dec. 8, the transcript states. He repeatedly tried to contact her after that, the record states.
After Welker finished providing this information to the magistrate, Odetalla determined there was enough probable cause to sign and issue warrants for Moore’s arrest.
The woman who accused Moore is a 32-year-old staffer in the athletics department. The Michigan athletics department confirmed this week she remains an employee, but wouldn’t provide additional details.
The Free Press left a message seeking comment from her but is not naming her at this time.
Some salary records published by the university list her as an administrative specialist, a title the department uses to cover a wide variety of roles, with salaries ranging from $44,000 to $360,000.
Her current salary is listed as $99,000. The records indicate she began at the school with a salary of $58,000 before being increased to $90,000 last year and then to her current rate. The records do not indicate the duties of the employees listed.
The woman appears to have taken down her LinkedIn profile and other social media accounts after being publicly linked to Moore.
In 2021, the university adopted a policy regarding intimate relationships between supervisors and their subordinates. The policy prohibits supervisors from initiating such relationships. If the relationship precedes the employment conflict or the subordinate initiates it, the policy calls for the supervisor to notify a superior about it.
The policy also calls for a management plan when a supervisor is in a relationship with a subordinate. It could require moving jobs or changing to whom the subordinate reports.
Free Press reporter Violet Ikonomova contributed to this report.
