A woman wanted for 17 years in the death of a 29-year-old Loganville mother has finally been caught, and the break came from the most mundane of places: a driver's license renewal. Tamaira Angell Smith, now 52, was arrested in McKinney, Texas in August after she contacted the South Carolina DMV about an alert on her account, unraveling a cold case that began in a Stone Mountain-area hotel room back in 2009.
A Deadly Procedure Disguised as Medical Care
Eyanna Moore spent months researching cosmetic providers before agreeing to a procedure, believing she was meeting licensed medical professionals, according to WSB-TV. Smith and another woman allegedly used stolen credentials to pose as verified healthcare practitioners. The work was supposed to take place at the practice, but the procedure took place at a Holiday Inn Express near Stone Mountain on May 30, 2009. Officials say Smith administered silicone injections to Moore at the hotel, according to CBS News.
During the appointment, Smith called Moore's husband to request food and drink, then fled the hotel room without calling 911 as Moore's condition rapidly deteriorated, WSB-TV reports. Moore's husband arrived at the hotel with the couple's three children and called emergency services, but she was pronounced dead at a local hospital the following day, May 31, 2009.
A Scream, a Hang-Up, and 17 Years of Silence
After abandoning the room, Smith called Moore's husband once more to ask about her condition. When she learned Moore had died, she screamed and hung up immediately, according to WHMI. It was her last known contact before she disappeared. Gwinnett County police charged Smith with practicing medicine without a license in June 2009 and secured a felony arrest warrant for murder three months later, but she could not be located for years, the station notes.
The Stolen Identity That Unraveled in South Carolina
Smith's cover held for nearly eight years. In November 2018, she obtained a South Carolina driver's license using the stolen identity of a South Carolina resident, creating a fraudulent DMV profile that went undetected for almost eight years, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. The arrangement finally cracked in July 2026 when Smith contacted the DMV after noticing an alert on her account, bringing SLED into the matter. The identity-fraud case was assigned to Special Agent Shawn Ludwig in August 2026.
Ludwig ran facial recognition software against the 2018 photo and uncovered Smith's real identity, along with the active Georgia murder warrant tied to her name, per the same account from SLED. Ludwig has said the investigation shifted from a simple identity-fraud case to a murder manhunt almost overnight once that match came back, according to CBS News. From there, Ludwig and SLED Senior Special Agent Bridgette Lott identified an alias and a vehicle Smith was using in McKinney, Texas, and shared those details with the McKinney Police Department.
Arrest, Extradition, and an Upcoming Bond Hearing
McKinney police located the vehicle and arrested Smith in August, the agency reported. She was extradited back to Gwinnett County and has been held at the Gwinnett County Jail. A formal bond hearing is scheduled for October 22 at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, WHMI reports. Smith faces felony murder charges.
Under Georgia law, a person commits felony murder when a death results during the commission of an underlying felony, according to Justia Law. Felony murder in Georgia does not require intent to kill, only that a dangerous felony resulted in death, per the same legal framework.
An FDA Warning Issued Years After Moore's Death
Moore's case underscores a danger regulators have flagged. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued its cited warning on September 12, 2025, more than 16 years after Moore's death in 2009. The agency warned that injectable silicone is not approved for body contouring or buttocks enhancement, and that silicone can migrate beyond the injection site and cause an embolism, stroke, tissue death, permanent disfigurement, or death, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency has noted that such injections are frequently performed by unlicensed providers using industrial-grade materials, a pattern that matches the allegations against Smith in Gwinnett County.
