Five months after a mother of three was fatally shot in Barstow, her killer remains at large while her family continues seeking justice and trying to make sense of the tragedy.
Jessie Moore, 28, of Adelanto died following the Jan. 16 shooting at a bar in the 200 block of North First Avenue, Barstow Police Department officials said at the time. She died from her injuries at a hospital the following day.
Investigators have been seeking her alleged killer, 36-year-old Alyse Brown of Barstow, ever since.
“Detectives obtained a warrant for murder for Brown, who is currently at large and is considered armed and dangerous,” Barstow police said in in a written statement.
The shooting
The deadly shooting unfolded about 11:40 p.m.
Police responded to numerous reports of “shots fired” when they were informed that Moore, who had been shot multiple times, had turned up at a local emergency room, police said at the time.
No further details, including a motive for the shooting, were released by police.
Family awaits justice
Moore is survived by three children aged 8, 10 and 14, as well as two sisters, a brother and 20 nieces and nephews, according to her mother, Kimberly Guess.
She had grown up alongside her alleged killer in Barstow since age 13 before moving to Adelanto five years ago, the mother said. Moore and Brown were friends Moore had attended a barbecue at Brown’s home in the hours before the shooting.
The two women went to the bar on the night of the shooting, Guess said.
At some point, Brown got into a fight with another patron, she said. Brown ultimately shot at another person before shooting Moore twice, striking her in the chest and in the arm.
Brown fled and has remained a fugitive ever since, wanted on suspicion of murder.
‘Why did you do that to my daughter?’
The senseless killing has left Moore’s family with many questions about what happened, and why.
Guess said although the friends had fought in the past, she she did not know why Brown would have wanted to kill her.
“For whatever reason, she shot my daughter and she killed her,” the mother said.
Many answers would likely not come until the suspect is apprehended, she said.
“I want my daughter’s killer caught,” Guess said, adding that she wants to be able to ask, “Why did you do that? What was going through her head? ‘Why did you kill my kid? You didn’t have to do that.”
Remembering Jessie Moore
Guess said her daughter was “very outgoing, very funny, very goofy.”
“She really loved her kids. Nothing she wouldn’t do for her kids and her family,” the mother said.
“She was the sweetest, kindest, even though she was a bit of a fighter,” Guess continued. “There’s nothing Jessie wouldn’t do for her family, her kids, for anyone she considered to be family.”
Guess described Moore as “A tomboy, but a girly tomboy, just getting into her girliness.” Moore was the first girl to play on her junior high school’s football team in Oklahoma.
Moore had taken in friends during times of need, the mother added. “She was just a really caring person. She was the life of the party.”
‘Trying to put the pieces back together’
Moore’s family and friends remained “devastated” by her sudden loss, according to Guess.
“It’s been really hard. Today’s her sons birthday, and she’s not here” said Guess, who now cares for Moore’s two sons and daughter, along with Moore’s older sister.
Guess said she was hospitalized recovering from back surgery at the time of her daughter’s killing. She remains unable to work due to disability and has been a struggle to pay mounting bills.
“I’m trying to put the pieces back together,” she said. “Her older sister and I are doing everything we can to hold it together.”
A fundraiser to aid Moore’s family has been established online at gofundme.com/f/support-for-jessie-moores-family.
Anyone with information was urged to contact Barstow police Detective Bryce Carson at (760) 255-5183, or by email at bcarson@barstowca.org, or the on-duty watch commander at (760) 256-2211.Tips may also be provided anonymously to the WeTip hotline at (844) 909-3096.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Five months later: Fugitive still at large in killing of Barstow woman
Reporting by Brian Day, Victorville Daily Press / Victorville Daily Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brian Day, Victorville Daily Press | USA TODAY Network
