LeRoya Moore Enters Plea in Death of Her Children

LeRoya Moore, 36, pleaded not guilty to murder charges on Monday during a brief appearence in Superior Court, New Haven, the Hartford Courant reports.

Moore, 36, is accused of killing her two children inside her East Haven home on June 2.

Moore also said she doesn’t want to proceed with a probable cause hearing, which is mandated in cases where life in prison is a possibility, the Courant adds.

Moore will next appear in court on Dec. 21. She’s being held at the York Correctional Institutition for women in Niantic.

Cause of death

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner informed the East Haven Police Department that they have declared the deaths of both Aleisha Moore, 6, and Daaron Moore, 7, homicides by acute intoxication of diphenhydramine.

Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine compound used for the symptomatic relief of allergies and the common cold.

This investigation was conducted by the East Haven Police Detective Division with the assistance of the Connecticut State Police Major Crime Unit and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Original police findings

Daaron, 7, and Aleisha Moore, 6, were allegedly stabbed and possibly poisoned by their mother, LeRoya Moore, 36, before she intentionally turned on the gas in their 541 Strong Street house in East Haven, court records reveal.

LeRoya Moore, 36, was charged on June 10 with two counts of murder and three counts of reckless endangerment for the death of her two children, Daaron, 7, and Aleisha, 6, police said.

Moore told investigators, “I stabbed them .. I released them,” reports the Hartford Courant citing court documents.

In a note left near the children, Moore allegedly wrote, “I know this was meant to end the way it did. I don’t know the reason why, but we were meant to die today.”

She went on to write that, “They were in pain and now they’re in heaven.”

On the day of her children’s deaths, Moore wrote, according to court documents, that she made sure they did their favorite things including eating ice cream and painting their nails, the Courant reports.

As a potential motive for the killings, Moore wrote she didn’t want to have the kids raised by the “system” or a “social worker.”

Moore, who has an extensive criminal past, had already faced pending assault charges involving her ex-husband, Michael Moore.

LeRoya Moore was placed on a $2 million court set bond.

Police arrived at 541 Strong Street around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2 and found the two children, Daaron, 7, and Aleisha, 6, deceased.

At the time, police said LeRoya Moore, 36, was also injured, but they declined to comment further on the nature of her injuries. She had cut wounds, court documents revealed.

Police immediately called their deaths “suspicious.”

It’s likely the children were in the house for more than 24 hours, officials said.

Police were only called to the house after a friend of the mother’s called 911 saying she received a note from Moore indicating she planned to take her own life. The friend went to the house, and Moore told her that she had cut herself, the friend said on the 911 call.

Soon after the tragedy, LeRoya Moore’s past criminal record surfaced including an arrest in September 2014 where she is alleged to have assaulted her ex-husband, Michael Moore, in front of the children at their magnet school in New Haven. Those criminal charges are pending.

Child Advocate Office’s investigation

The Hartford Courant reports that the state Child’s Advocate Office is investigating why child-protection officials didn’t continue to supervise Moore after her recent arrest.

There were reports of “suspected abuse or neglect” of the two youths as recent as the fall of 2014. The state Child Advocate’s Office says it doesn’t appear there was any follow up by DCF. DCF officials say they too are investigating.

In 2006 LeRoya Moore had two other children removed from her custody after she repeatedly beat her 4-year-old daughter with the handle of a sponge mop. LeRoya Moore’s daughter said she was beaten for spilling juice and screaming, the Courant reported.

Three days after the tragedy, East Haven residents and officials held a vigil on the Green to help facilitate the healing.

Wallingford-based funeral home, B.C. Bailey Funeral Home, stepped up and generously agreed to fund the children’s funeral expenses, Fox CT reported.

Read the full Hartford Courant story here.