Wesley Wayne Smith, a 21-year-old Black/African American male, was killed late on April 17, 2023, after a violent confrontation inside the Walnut Arms Apartments on the 400 block of Walnut Street in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Although he was described in official and news reports as being from Philadelphia, he was in Lansdale that night visiting his girlfriend, Hailee Duerson Skeleton, at her apartment. Police were called to the complex at about 11:09 p.m. for a report of a shooting, and when officers arrived, they found Smith dead on the floor of the master bedroom.
Investigators said the shooting began when Christopher Scott Moore Jr., who was 21 and from Lansdale, broke into the apartment through a bathroom window. Moore was described as Duerson Skeleton’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her children. According to authorities, after getting inside, Moore went into the bedroom where Smith and Duerson Skeleton were together and began shooting. Smith, who also had a firearm, returned fire. Police found Moore still alive but suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, and he was flown to Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia for treatment.
The scene told investigators that the encounter had quickly turned into a close-range gunfight. Detectives recovered two firearms and multiple fired cartridge casings from each gun. Authorities later said both Smith and Moore had valid permits to carry firearms. Duerson Skeleton was not reported injured, and reports said the children were not inside the apartment when the shooting occurred. An autopsy performed the next day found that Smith died from multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide.
The case also unfolded against the backdrop of an alleged earlier domestic violence incident. According to reporting that cited the criminal complaint, Moore had allegedly broken into Duerson Skeleton’s home the night before the fatal shooting, punched and strangled her, displayed a gun, threatened to shoot both her and her new boyfriend, and smashed her phone. She reportedly did not immediately report that incident because she feared further abuse. By the following night, prosecutors said, Moore returned, forced his way into the apartment, and killed Smith.
Moore was charged on April 18, 2023, with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, third-degree murder, burglary, criminal trespass, and possessing an instrument of crime. At the time the charges were announced, he remained hospitalized for the injuries he suffered when Smith fired back. The charges were later held for trial after a preliminary hearing, moving the case forward in Montgomery County Court.
Moore ultimately did not go to trial. On January 2, 2024, just before his trial was scheduled to begin, he pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree murder. As part of the plea agreement, the more serious first- and second-degree murder charges, along with burglary, trespassing, and weapons-related charges, were dropped. Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge William Carpenter sentenced Moore to 28 to 56 years in state prison. Prosecutors described Smith as an innocent person who lost his life because of Moore’s jealousy, while Moore’s defense attorney said Moore was remorseful and that the killing grew out of a volatile relationship with his ex-girlfriend.
