A New York man was sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting a woman, her friend and one of her dogs in a targeted attack that stemmed from a dispute about the sound of her pets barking, according to prosecutors.
Lenue Moore received the life sentence without parole nearly three years after prosecutors said he approached his neighbor, Jacqueline Billini, from behind and opened fire as she was walking her dogs with Levaughn Harvin in Manhattan, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a Wednesday, September 23, news release.
Moore, 42, fired more than a dozen close range shots, killing Billini, 57, who was shot in the forehead in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood the evening of September 29, 2023, according to the office.
Another shot struck Harvin, 42, in the neck, hitting major blood vessels and killing him, prosecutors said. One of Billini’s dogs, Zeus, was also fatally shot in the back.
Harvin’s children witnessed the deadly tragedy, according to authorities.
The shooting was a part of an “ongoing dispute” related to Billini’s dogs barking, according to police, per WABC-TV. Earlier that year, in February 2023, Moore allegedly stabbed one of the dogs.
A few months later, in April 2023, Moore tried to kick down Billini’s apartment door and broke her arm in doing so, according to prosecutors.
As Moore continued to try to get inside her home, he “swung a hammer through a crack in the door,” hitting one of several people in the residence who were trying to help Billini, prosecutors said.
Billini was ultimately granted an order of protection against Moore after she reported him to police, according to prosecutors.
“In response to Lenue Moore’s brutal and escalating conduct, Jacqueline Billini did what we ask every New Yorker to do: she came forward to report violence so that we can pursue accountability,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement on Tuesday. “Tragically, her efforts were met with devastating consequences when Moore devised a scheme to target her, ambushing and killing Ms. Billini, her friend Levaughn Harvin and her pet.”
“This senseless act of retaliation left two families and an entire community grieving, including Mr. Harvin’s children, who witnessed the unimaginable,” Bragg added.
Following the shooting, Moore fled, according to prosecutors. He was later arrested at a Brooklyn apartment, where police discovered him hiding beneath a bed the next month.
In December, Moore was found guilty of first and second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon, aggravated criminal contempt and aggravated cruelty to animals, according to prosecutors. He was additionally convicted of charges in connection with the alleged break-in attempt at Billini’s apartment.
His defense attorney, Norman Williams Jr., didn’t immediately return a request for comment from Us.
In an interview with Billini’s family in October 2023, her brother, Jose Billini, told WABC-TV that his sister, Harvin and her dog didn’t deserve to be killed.
“Nobody deserves a death like that,” Jose added.
Billini’s family called her Jackie, per the TV station.
Before her death, she worked as a court analyst for New York state, according to her Facebook page.
“While we cannot undo this unspeakable violence, I hope that today brings a measure of closure to the families and loved ones of Ms. Billini and Mr. Harvin, and may their memories live on for years to come,” Bragg said on Tuesday.
