In the early summer of 2022, the life of 28-year-old Curtis Shelby was cut short by an act of gun violence in South Bend, Indiana. On the late evening of June 6th, police were called to the intersection of Marshall Avenue and 33rd Street where they discovered Shelby unresponsive on the sidewalk. He had sustained a fatal gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy was later scheduled to be performed in Kalamazoo.
The South Bend Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit immediately began an investigation into the shooting. Their efforts led to the identification and subsequent arrest of two suspects: 19-year-old Treyveon Maurice Moore and 18-year-old Genevieve Elise Ashton, both residents of South Bend. The investigation revealed that the incident stemmed from an attempted sale of a stolen vehicle by Shelby. Moore and a group of individuals had allegedly planned to forcibly take the vehicle from him, a confrontation that ultimately escalated to Shelby being shot.
Following the investigation, the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office filed multiple charges against Moore, including two counts of murder, robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, and armed robbery, along with a firearm enhancement. Ashton faced a charge of assisting a criminal. Evidence gathered during the investigation included jail calls between Moore and Ashton, who were in communication following the incident. Moore had been arrested for violating a protective order against Ashton prior to the murder charges being filed.
In a subsequent legal development, Treyveon Maurice Moore entered into a plea agreement. As a result of this deal, the murder charges against him were dropped. He received a 35-year prison sentence for robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and the firearm enhancement. Genevieve Elise Ashton was held on a $1,000 bond as she awaited sentencing for her role in the events that transpired.
