Jennifer Dana Moore faces an open murder charge after Joseph Wayne Worley was found shot in their Cheshire Township home.
ALLEGAN, Mich. — A 44-year-old woman accused of fatally shooting her boyfriend after an argument at their Cheshire Township rental home was ordered held without bond after an arraignment this week on an open murder charge, court records and authorities said.
Jennifer Dana Moore is charged in the April 22 death of Joseph Wayne Worley, 52, who was found dead inside the couple’s home on East Baseline Road in southern Allegan County. The case is moving through Allegan County’s 57th District Court, where prosecutors argued Moore should remain jailed because of the severity of the charge, her limited local ties and concerns about safety.
Deputies with the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office were sent to the home shortly after 10 p.m. after Moore called 911. According to court records described by investigators, Moore told dispatchers, “I just shot my boyfriend.” When deputies arrived, she was first seen on the front porch but then went back inside the home. Officers later saw her through a window, crying and standing near where Worley’s body could be seen. Court records say Moore repeatedly told deputies, “I shot him” and “I killed him,” as officers worked to get her out of the house.
Authorities ordered Moore to leave the home and took her into custody before deputies entered. Inside, they found Worley dead from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Investigators said the home is on East Baseline Road in Cheshire Township, near Baseline Lake and just north of the Allegan and Van Buren county line. Moore was found at the scene and was the person who reported the shooting, authorities said. The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office described the case as a homicide investigation involving apparent domestic issues. No other suspect has been named.
Investigators said the shooting followed an argument after Moore and Worley returned home from dinner in Paw Paw. Moore told detectives she made a comment that upset Worley, who then locked himself in a bedroom, according to court records. When he opened the door and walked toward the kitchen, Moore said she picked up a revolver that had been in the room and pointed it toward him. Court records say she described making a “Doc Holliday”-style motion with the gun to simulate a shot. Moore told detectives the revolver discharged because it had no safety and that she did not intend to shoot Worley. Investigators also noted a bullet hole in a bedroom television.
Moore appeared by video Monday, April 27, before Allegan County 57th District Court Magistrate Meredith Biedler. She was arraigned on one felony count of open murder. In Michigan, an open murder charge allows the court process to determine whether the evidence supports first-degree murder, second-degree murder or another outcome. Moore has not been convicted, and the charge is an allegation. Her attorney waived a formal reading of the complaint and asked that bond be set, saying Moore had family in the Kalamazoo area and no history of violent criminal offenses.
Allegan County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jessica Winsemius opposed bond, saying Moore posed a serious flight risk because she was from Virginia, had no permanent housing in the area and had been living in a rental home. Winsemius also said Moore was on suicide watch at the Allegan County Jail. After the arguments, Moore asked whether she could speak, but the request was denied. Biedler said the charge was among the most serious the court sees and cited Moore’s limited local ties, the danger she posed to herself and the community, and the flight risk before denying bond.
Neighbors told local reporters the couple had only recently moved into the rental home. The sheriff’s office said several agencies assisted in the investigation, including Allegan City police, Michigan State Police, the Bloomingdale Fire Department, Life EMS, the Michigan State Police Crime Lab and the Allegan County Medical Examiner’s Office. Investigators have not released a full timeline of the argument, the exact distance between Moore and Worley when the gun fired, or whether forensic testing has been completed on the revolver, the television or other evidence collected from the home.
Moore is scheduled to return to court for a probable cause conference May 7 before Judge Skocelas and a preliminary examination May 12 before Judge Burnett. At the preliminary examination, prosecutors are expected to present enough evidence for a judge to decide whether the case should proceed toward trial in circuit court. If the case is bound over, additional hearings would address evidence, motions and any trial schedule.
Moore remained in the Allegan County Jail without bond as of Thursday, April 30. The next public milestone in the case is the May 7 probable cause conference.
Author note: Last updated April 30, 2026.