Mar 11, 2007 9:30 pm US/Central
Mother of Shooting Victim Demands Justice
A Murder Case Goes Cold for 12 Years Over "Skimpy Investigation"
by Jim Williams
Gary, Ind. (CBS) ―
A gun shot wound to the head takes the life of a young mother in Gary, Ind.
After 12 years of contradictions, mistakes and mishaps, there are still no answers in the cold case, as CBS 2's Jim Williams reports.
From that terrible night until now, the victim's mother has been demanding justice.
Inside a home at 3648 Carolina in Gary, Ind.,19-year-old Kackeyla Ezell was killed, shot in the head on December 7, 1994. She had just had a baby. A tragedy in itself, but what happened next left her mother bitter and angry.
"The last 12 years of my life has been hell," said Ezell's mother Keathia. "I have not had any closure in my daughter's death. I have been devastated by the justice system."
"For the sake of the family I'd like to see that the case is solved," said Lt. Delmar Stout of the Gary Police Department.
At least three men were in the home at the time. Two said they didn't see or hear anything. The third man, Kackeyla's boyfriend, Warren Moore told police an unknown man came up the back stairwell to sell a gun and that somehow the gun went off.
Police bought the story back then, but not now. Police are saying the story doesn't match up.
The couch where Kackeyla was killed is still inside the abandoned apartment. No one has ever lived there since her death.
"With the apartment being so small, we have a hard time believing that they didn't see more than they told us," said Stout.
Kackeyla's mother agrees. Since day one, she's believed her daughter was murdered; that same night she went to the crime scene.
"When I got there, I realized there was no crime scene rope," Ezell said. "I realized the Gary Police Department hadn't been there to do any investigation."
Police sources say they did not take any pictures or collect any physical evidence that night. Ezell blames the skimpy investigation on the fact that Moore was a promising boxer in the Gary Police Athletic League. Police deny Moore received special treatment.
Moore was recently sentenced to 100-120 months in prison on drug trafficking charges. He helped federal officials bring down fellow members of a renegade street gang for operating a major drug ring.
While the drug case preceded, Kackeyla's case went nowhere.
"A lot of detectives originally assigned to it have been reassigned," said Stout.
That includes a sergeant charged with bilking an elderly neighbor, an officer charged with forgery, and a detective who plead guilty to killing his girlfriend.
Still with all this, police believe with the public's help, they can find answers. They want someone to come forward and tell the truth of what really happened that night.
Today Ezell is raising her granddaughter, now 13-years-old -- a child who never got to know her own mother. Today she only wants one thing in life -- for justice to be served.
If you have any information, call the Gary Police Department at (219) 881-7300, ext. 3028.
For more information, check out the Post Tribune at www.post-trib.com/index.html.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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