Love triangle leads to death of pregnant mom

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The ex-boyfriend is being considered a person of interest.

By PATRICIA MEADE

VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — Gunfire during the high drama of an apparent love triangle left a pregnant woman and her unborn baby dead and a little boy shot in the head.

Police first on the scene in the 70 block of Center Street just past 1 p.m. Tuesday discovered that a beige Chevrolet had flipped to its side and landed off the street. Tall trees kept the vehicle from flipping again.

Coroner's investigators removed the body of 29-year-old Helen Moore from the car at 2:25 p.m. Witnesses said she was due to give birth Sunday.

Her son, Ceonei Moore, 8, was in critical condition at St. Elizabeth Health Center on Tuesday evening.

Two women fighting at the scene had to be separated. Police worked hard to keep warring factions away from each other as a crowd gathered.

Police Chief Jimmy Hughes said Moore's ex-boyfriend, Curtis Young, is a person of interest in the case, which he called a domestic situation. Court records show Young is 24 and lives on the East Side.

What witnesses said

Young's girlfriend, Charzetta Scott, 23, lives at the house on Center Street near where Moore's car flipped over. She said Moore was in the neighborhood to confront Young.

"She was after him, like she got mad. He was in the middle of the street and she was trying to kill him — run him over — that's why the car tipped over," Scott said. "This ain't the first time this happened with him, and she always had her kids in the car."

Scott said she didn't see a gun.

Charzetta Scott's mother, Alvena Scott, said her daughter and Young have been seeing each other for a while.

Alvena Scott said during a phone interview, "My daughter was calling me saying a bunch of girls were at her house trying to bust windows."

Witnesses on the scene said much of the same thing.

Hughes said three cars were involved in a rolling argument, with the pregnant woman's car being in the lead. The 911 center received a call about a woman being pursued by her ex-boyfriend and police tried to direct the caller to the police station, he said.

Mary Moore, the victim's sister, made the 911 call, according to a police report. She told police she witnessed the fight start at the victim's house on Cassius Avenue. She said Young went to Moore's home and the two of them argued.

She told police she made her sister get into her car. She said Young followed her sister and she followed him, losing sight of them when she reached McGuffey Plaza.

She said that when she got to Center Street, she saw her sister's car flipped over. She said a silver Saturn parked nearby was the one Young drove during the chase. Her sister was dead with a gunshot wound to the neck.

The chief said police and paramedics tried to save the life of the unborn baby.

meade@vindy.com

Wednesday, August 1, 2007