Murder defendant says he thought he’d be run over

YOUNGSTOWN — Curtis Young told jurors in his capital murder trial this morning that he fired one shot outside his North Center Street residence because he feared his ex-girlfriend, Helen Moore, was going to run over him with her car.

“She hit the gas and tried to come after me to try to run me over,” Young said as he testified in his own defense under questioning from his lawyer, Douglas B. Taylor.

After he fired, “The car ran up on the curb and tipped over,” Young testified. “I stood in the street for a minute because I was in shock,’’ he added.

Under cross-examination by Martin P. Desmond, assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, Young acknowledged that he could have remained inside his residence and called 911 while he knew Moore was outside in her car, but he did not do so.

He also acknowledged that he didn’t call 911 or stay to help Helen Moore and her children in her car after Moore’s car left the road, and that he didn’t turn himself in to the authorities until two days later on the county courthouse steps.

Young, 26, is charged with aggravated murder with firearm and death penalty specifications.

The charges stem from the July 31, 2007, shooting, which killed Moore, 29, of Cassius Street; her nearly full-term fetus; and her 8-year-old son, Ceonei, who was her front-seat passenger.

More defense witness testimony will be heard this afternoon in the trial, which is before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.