Opening statements Wednesday in Curtis Young murder trial

YOUNGSTOWN — Opening statements will be Wednesday in the capital murder trial of Curtis Young, immediately after the jury’s early morning Wednesday visit to the Center Street homicide scene.

Jurors will visit the location where Young’s ex-girlfriend, Helen Moore, 29, of Cassius Street, and her full-term unborn child died after Moore was shot in the neck July 31, 2007.

Police believe the bullet that passed through Moore’s neck was the same one that lodged in the head of her 8-year-old son, Ceonei, who was pronounced dead the next morning in St. Elizabeth Health Center.

Young, 26, of North Center Street, is charged with aggravated murder with firearm and death-penalty specifications in all three deaths. The trial is before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Young had been at Moore’s home, where they argued. The shooting followed a rolling argument from Cassius Street to North Center Street that involved Moore, her sister and Young, all driving separate cars. Moore’s car left the road and overturned at the shooting scene near Young’s residence.

The defense says Young fired the fatal shot in self-defense as Moore tried to run him over with the car she was driving.

Accident investigators were unable to determine whether Moore lost control of her car before or after she was shot.

For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com