A Norfolk jury has found Kristie Marie Lynch, 45, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Jose Luis Moreno, a 45-year-old disabled man who had been living with her and her husband, James Christian Lynch. The verdict follows the earlier conviction of Mr. Lynch, 52, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 25-year prison sentence for his involvement.
The couple met Mr. Moreno through their church and invited him to live at their Mariner’s Way apartment in 2022 because he had no other place to stay. Mr. Moreno suffered from a disability that weakened his ankles and required him to use a walker. He contributed financially to the household with his Supplemental Security Disability Income.
According to statements made by both defendants, they physically punished Mr. Moreno for not doing chores due to his disability and for speaking Spanish around them. Mr. Lynch admitted to repeatedly striking Mr. Moreno on the head with a frying pan in the days leading up to his death but refused medical attention for him out of fear of arrest.
Investigators believe that Mr. Moreno died on August 9, 2023, after being beaten and strangled with various household items including a frying pan, belt, baseball bat, and dog leash. The Lynches did not report the death until two days later when they informed a local pastor before contacting police.
When Norfolk Police arrived at the apartment, they discovered Mr. Moreno’s body partially covered by a blanket at the bottom of the stairs, showing signs of extensive bruising and ligature marks on his neck. Blood was found throughout the residence along with evidence that attempts had been made to clean it up.
Mrs. Lynch told investigators she accused Mr. Moreno of attacking her on the day he died and urged her husband to retaliate against him. Testimony revealed that both Lynches participated in beating and strangling Mr. Moreno during this incident.
Both were initially charged with second-degree murder before indictments were secured for first-degree murder by the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. In May 2025, James Lynch accepted a plea deal for second-degree murder; Judge Robert B. Rigney sentenced him above state guidelines due to what he described as “the horrendous nature of the offense.”
Kristie Lynch rejected a similar plea offer and went to trial before Judge David W. Lannetti in September 2025; after hearing testimony—including from her husband—the jury deliberated for two hours before finding her guilty as charged on September 12th.
Sentencing for Mrs. Lynch is scheduled for January 16.
“The word ‘shocking’ has been overused, but the suffering that the Lynches inflicted on Mr. Moreno — a disabled man they claimed to have been ‘helping’ and who had ‘nowhere to go’ — is truly shocking,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi.
“It is possible to kill another person in an instant using a gun, but to beat and strangle another person to death takes serious physical exertion and a sustained determination to inflict pain and to kill.
It hurts the heart to imagine what Mr.
Moreno experienced at the hands of the Lynches and the agony he felt as he died.
The excuses the Lynches offered for their crimes were no excuse,
and each of them will now face their consequences.
We will continue
to stand up
for people who,
like Mr.
Moreno,
can no longer call
for justice themselves
and
to prosecute those people who hurt vulnerable victims.”
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Emily A.
Woodley
and Phil Y.
Bailey are prosecuting,
with Detective Ryan B.
Davis leading
the investigation.
