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Published: Thursday, August 2, 2007

Shooting separates close sisters

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The prosecutor said
investigators believe only one shot was fired.

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Sisters Helen and Mary Moore were always there for each other, watching each other's children — each helping the other whenever she needed.

"We were always there for each other from birth until now, until he killed her," Mary Moore said.

He, according to both Mary Moore and warrants filed by police, is Curtis Young, 24, Center Street. Young is charged with three counts of aggravated murder: Helen Moore, her unborn baby boy and her son, Ceonei Moore, 8.

Ceonei, of Cassius Street, was pronounced dead at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday at St. Elizabeth Health Center. The boy was hit in the head Tuesday afternoon when his pregnant mother, 29-year-old Helen Moore, was shot in the neck on North Center Street.

Moore and her unborn baby, due to be born Sunday, were dead at the shooting scene.

Mary Moore said her nephew was a boy who always helped others. He helped tutor other children at school, Martin Luther King Elementary.

City Prosecutor Jay Macejko said investigators believe only one shot was fired and that the bullet passed through the woman and into her son's head. Ceonei had been a passenger in the front seat as his mother drove on North Center Street.

Two other children, also those of Helen Moore — Ashley, 11, and Maia, 5 — were in the back seat. Helen Moore also had another son, Camron, 10, who wasn't in the car.

The two daughters are now staying with Mary Moore, their aunt. "I'm fighting to keep custody," she said.

Fund for the funeral

Mary Moore also said she plans to set up a memorial fund to pay for her sister's funeral. Ceonei's father and his family are handling arrangements for the boy, she said.

The two sisters were so close, Mary Moore picked the names of four of her sister's five children, she said.

After staying at the hospital into the wee hours Wednesday, Mary Moore, her children and her sister's two daughters went home.

"We just prayed," Mary Moore said.

Macejko said Helen Moore, after being shot, may have hit the accelerator to get away and the car flipped. Police found the car against some trees across from the residence of Young and his girlfriend, Charzetta Scott, 23.

Macejko said Young, father of the unborn baby, is potentially facing the death penalty if convicted of the intentional killing of a child under 13 and purposeful killing of two or more people.

"It cries out for the death penalty," Macejko said Wednesday. "I've sensed anger and frustration from the police and administration. No one can understand — so brazen to kill over nothing. Thank God the other two kids in the car were not hurt."

The shooting followed what police have characterized as a domestic situation, and what witnesses described as a love triangle. Young had been at Moore's home, and they argued. What followed was a rolling argument from Cassius Street to North Center Street that involved Moore, her sister and Young, all in separate cars.

Going to the pool

Mary Moore said she, her sister and their children were headed to North Side Pool on Tuesday afternoon, but they stopped at her sister's house on Cassius to pick something up.

When they got there, her sister pulled into the driveway, and Young showed up, parking his car to block Helen Moore's. He got out of the car, fists clenched.

Mary Moore said she believed that Young was going to hit Helen, who got out of her car. Mary Moore eventually got out of the car she was driving and tried to intervene. Helen Moore and Young were arguing.

Mary Moore said Young told her Tuesday that he didn't have a gun.

Mary told Helen to leave because she was concerned about her sister's safety. But when Helen Moore left in her car, Young followed.

Mary Moore then followed, a short distance behind Young.

She had her son call 911, and then he handed the phone to her and she relayed information about the rolling argument as it progressed.

Mary Moore said the two were "fussing and cussing" at each other from their cars. She attributed her sister's anger to "pregnancy hormones."

She lost sight of them and had to call her niece's cell phone to find out where they were, Mary Moore said.

Helen Moore then headed to Young's girlfriend's house. Mary Moore believes that Helen thought he would stop following her if his girlfriend was there.

But Young got there first, the sister said. He had a gun, walked around the car and shot Helen Moore through the open window, Mary Moore said. She didn't see the shooting, but others at the scene gave her the information.

Arriving at the scene

When Mary Moore arrived, she saw her sister's car flipped.

"My nieces were yelling, 'He killed my mother. He killed my mother,'" she said.

Young had taken off. She ran to her sister's car.

Someone at the scene told her they heard shots. But she didn't see a lot of blood in the car. Her sister was lying on top of Ceonei. Mary Moore said she didn't know her nephew had been hit, believing his injuries were caused by the crash.

She waited for emergency crews to arrive. They cut the family free from the wreckage.

She knew her sister's prospects weren't good when they concentrated on Ceonei.

"My sister would have wanted it that way, though — for them to try to help her child first," Mary Moore said.

Then, rescue personnel pulled a sheet over Helen Moore.

"I knew what the sheet meant," Mary Moore said.

Contrary to what was reported in Tuesday's Vindicator by Young's girlfriend, Helen Moore didn't try to run over Young, Mary Moore said. She also said she and her sister didn't go there to fight with anyone or to cause trouble. Mary Moore said she knocked on the door of the girlfriend's house to try to determine where Young was.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," Mary Moore said. "We were supposed to go to the pool with our kids and have a nice time — like we did the day before."

Thursday, August 2, 2007