Larissa Easley-Kelly

Larissa Ann Easley-Kelly, a decorated Air Force veteran and beloved school director, was a woman known for her immense love for family, friends, and animals. Born in Colorado on December 16, 1968, she graduated from high school in 1986 and immediately began a distinguished decade of service in the U.S. Air Force as an air-launched cruise missile systems maintenance specialist. Her service, which included support for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, earned her numerous medals and awards. After honorably separating from the military in 1996, Larissa, a 45-year-old White female, made Fort Worth, Texas, her home and dedicated her life to nurturing others. She worked as a postal worker and a salon manager before finding her true passion as the owner and director of the Hilltop Montessori School. Described as an amazing and selfless woman, her priority was the safety and well-being of the children and staff at her school, whom she considered family.

The nurturing environment Larissa so carefully built was shattered on January 31, 2014. That day, Fort Worth police responded to a call from her husband, Jerry Moore, reporting a suicide at their home in the 6100 block of Forest Lane. Officers arrived to find Larissa with a fatal gunshot wound to her neck. She was rushed to John Peter Smith Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Initially treated as a suicide, the Fort Worth Police Department's investigation soon uncovered evidence suggesting a different story. Detectives began to suspect that Larissa’s death was not self-inflicted. More than a month after her death, on March 6, 2014, authorities arrested her 47-year-old husband, Jerry Moore. He was the only other person in the house at the time of the shooting, and investigators publicly named him as the primary suspect in what was now being investigated as a homicide.

The case against Jerry Moore proceeded to trial in Tarrant County in August 2015. Prosecutors argued that Moore had shot his wife during an argument. The jury heard testimony from Moore himself, who took the stand in his own defense. He claimed that he and Larissa were arguing and that she had retrieved a gun. Moore testified that as he tried to take the gun from her, it accidentally discharged, striking her in the neck. He told the court, "I told her to shut up... and I shot her," but maintained that the shooting was not intentional.

Prosecutors painted a different picture, presenting evidence that pointed to a deliberate act of violence. They detailed inconsistencies in his account of the events and highlighted the nature of the wound as being inconsistent with an accidental shooting during a struggle. The Tarrant County jury deliberated for less than two hours before reaching a verdict.

On August 27, 2015, the jury found Jerry Moore guilty of the murder of his wife, Larissa Easley-Kelly. Following the guilty verdict, he was sentenced to life in prison. The conviction brought a legal conclusion to the tragic death of a woman who had served her country and dedicated her life to caring for her community's youngest members. A memorial service for Larissa was held on February 8, 2014, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, where her school was located, celebrating a life of service and love that was violently cut short.