A man has been charged in the fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend in Lakewood after she allegedly stole several of his narcotic pills, Pierce County prosecutors say.
Prosecutors charged Larie Edward Moorer, 39, with first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. He is accused of killing 35-year-old Leslie Crossley on Jan. 22 in the 5100 block of Chicago Avenue Southwest, court records show.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Moorer's behalf at his arraignment Wednesday. A Pierce County Superior Court commissioner set his bail at $2 million.
Moorer was facing charges for driving under the influence and possessing a stolen firearm on Jan. 13. He was released on bail on Jan. 16 and was not in custody when the homicide occurred, prosecutors wrote.
Charging information
On the day of the killing, police were dispatched at 6:55 p.m. when a woman called 911 to say her friend had been shot in head and was most likely deceased. She said the shooting happened on Chicago Avenue Southwest. She drove to a hotel lot on Pacific Highway Southwest to park. Officers attempted life-saving measures when they arrived. After several minutes, Crossley was pronounced deceased, charging documents show.
Crossley's friend had been grazed by a bullet in the left ribcage area, and her 2-year-old daughter was in the backseat uninjured, documents show.
The woman said she got a text from Crossley who wanted to be picked up at her residence on Chicago Avenue. After she arrived and Crossley was getting in the front seat, gunfire erupted. The woman sped off but noticed Crossley was hit in the head. The woman indicated the incident might be in retaliation after Crossley said she to stole someone's narcotics, prosecutors wrote.
A different witness said that she heard gunshots outside the residence when Crossley was shot. She said that Crossley worked as a prostitute and often let customers pick her up in front of the house. She also confirmed that Crossley had stolen Xanax from a person, prosecutors wrote.
Several other witnesses told detectives that Crossley had stolen drugs recently. Crossley's sister told detectives that she stole a "significant amount of narcotics" from her ex-boyfriend's backpack. She said that the ex-boyfriend was Moorer, prosecutors wrote.
A witness told detectives that Crossley stole the narcotics from Moorer's house while he was in jail for the DUI incident.
Crossley told a friend that Moorer was looking for her and that she was fearful of what he might do, prosecutors wrote.
The friend told detectives she was with Crossley the night of the homicide. That night, the friend said, Moorer asked Crossley to take her belongings from his house as he was being forced to move out. At the same time, Crossley received a message from a potential client seeking a prostitution date. The friend thought the client was either Moorer or a friend posing as a customer to find out where she was, prosecutors wrote.
Text messages between Crossley and the potential client show that she gave them her address the night of the homicide. Crossley asked the client to pick her up so they can go to a hotel.
Crossley then decided to be picked up by her friend. The last text message from the client was at 6:37 p.m. and read, "I'm coming from the north end so 20 25 minutes." Crossley was shot at 6:53 p.m, prosecutors wrote.
Through surveillance footage, detectives determined that Moorer was in the passenger seat of a getaway vehicle while an unidentified person was the driver. The vehicle Moorer was in entered the Chicago Avenue parking lot at 6:50 p.m. Footage showed the suspect exiting the passenger side then getting back into the car, which exited onto Lincoln Avenue Southwest at about 6:54 p.m.
Moorer's cell phone records also showed that his phone was in the Chicago Avenue neighborhood at 6:42 p.m. It remained there until 6:55 p.m. Prosecutors wrote that the movement and timing of Moorer's phone is consistent with the surveillance of the getaway vehicle.
Detectives believe someone was in communication with Moorer and provided real-time information on Crossley's whereabouts. They also provided information on the exact moment she left the residence, prosecutors wrote.
Moorer was arrested on outstanding warrants on Tuesday for the homicide. Moorer has 11 felony convictions and is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm, prosecutors wrote.
