Jackie Billini

Jacqueline "Jackie" Billini, a 57-year-old White woman and dedicated employee of the New York State court system for over three decades, was known by friends as a kind person who would give a stranger the clothes off her back. She adored her three pit bulls, but a neighbor's hostility toward the dogs had left her in a state of constant fear. On the evening of September 29, 2023, Billini was walking her dog Zeus in her Washington Heights neighborhood, accompanied by her friend, 42-year-old Levaughn Harvin, who had begun walking with her for protection. As they walked near West 165th Street and Edgecombe Avenue, an assailant approached from behind and fired more than a dozen shots, killing Billini, Harvin, and Zeus.

The attack was the culmination of a violent, months-long dispute with Billini’s neighbor, 31-year-old Lenue Moore, who lived in the same apartment building and was enraged by the sound of her dogs barking. The conflict had a documented history of escalating aggression. Friends said that earlier in the year, Moore had stabbed Zeus. On April 11, 2023, the situation grew even more volatile when Moore allegedly kicked in Billini's apartment door, breaking her arm in the process. During the home invasion, he swung a hammer through the cracked door, striking one of the people inside who was trying to help.

Following the April attack, Moore was arrested and charged with assault and burglary. A judge issued an order of protection against him, but he was released after posting a $5,000 bail. Billini’s family and friends said she lived in terror after his release, her fears tragically realized on that September evening.

After the triple homicide, Moore fled the scene, sparking a nearly month-long manhunt. Law enforcement officials tracked him to several locations before U.S. Marshals located him on October 26, 2023. He was discovered hiding under a bed in a Brooklyn apartment and was taken into custody after resisting arrest.

A grand jury indicted Moore on a range of charges, including first-degree murder, second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon, aggravated criminal contempt, and aggravated cruelty to animals. In September 2024, Lenue Moore was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of Jacqueline Billini and Levaughn Harvin.