OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Oak Ridge Police Department and the city of Oak Ridge are mourning the loss of Lt. Marvell Moore, who died unexpectedly Tuesday, according to ORPD.
On Wednesday a memorial was set up outside the police station. Lt. Moore's police cruiser is parked in front of the station under a tarp. Flowers drape the hood of the veteran officer's SUV.
According to the department, Moore died from medical complications following a recent procedure. Moore joined ORPD in 2005, serving as a sergeant of the Criminal Investigations Division before being promoted to lieutenant in January 2023.
Chief of Police Robin Smith said the lieutenant was close with everyone he knew in the community. He was well loved and well respected. He said he would miss talking to the lieutenant about the classes he was taking as part of his master's program. Smith said what Moore loved to talk about was the success of his team.
"He would talk about his team and he loved to brag on his officers and the job that they're doing," Chief Smith said. "He would always give them all the credit for everything that's going on. But he loved to brag on them and talk about them."
Smith said Moore was passionate about recruiting new officers.
"He started a mentoring program for those new officers," Smith explained. "Once they came into the department, he would assign a mentor to a young officer. So they had someone they could talk to, somebody could ask questions of and help them through, 'How do I navigate my career?'"
Moore was also a member of the SWAT team. Smith said Knoxville police contacted them and offered their SWAT team to give other officers time to grieve, if Oak Ridge got called out. The Anderson County Sheriff's Department offered to help take calls if officers needed some time away. Smith said the Roane County Sheriff's Department will help out during Moore's funeral service.
" It's hard to accept because he, he's that strong person that everybody expects to always be there," he said. "He was the encourager. He was the motivator."
Smith also asked the community for prayers for Moore's family. He leaves behind a wife and children.
Moore's time investigating violent crime included the Jennifer Paxton case, which went to trial in August in Clinton and was locally and nationally broadcast. Sean Finnegan was convicted of Paxton's murder.
Evidence showed Finnegan kidnapped, held captive, abused and ultimately murdered Paxton in December 2019 in his home. His girlfriend at the time helped, authorities said.
It was Moore who discovered Paxton's body hidden in August 2020 under Finnegan's bed in his Oak Ridge home.
Moore's testimony in August helped convict Finnegan. Finnegan received the death penalty for killing Paxton, of Knoxville.