In the summer of 2003, a chance encounter at an Indianapolis gas station set in motion a tragic chain of events that would end in the deaths of two teenagers. Nireah Johnson, a 17-year-old African American transgender female, and her 18-year-old friend, Brandie Coleman, were murdered on July 23, 2003. The man responsible, Paul Moore, killed Johnson after discovering she was transgender.
Just over a month before their deaths, Johnson and Coleman were riding in a car with another friend
when they crossed paths with Paul Moore and Curtis Ward. After a brief conversation in a gas station parking lot, Johnson and Moore exchanged phone numbers. Moore would later claim he was attracted to Johnson, believing her to be a cisgender woman. In the early hours of July 23, Johnson and Coleman went to Moore's apartment, where he and Ward were present. Inside, after Moore discovered Johnson was transgender, the atmosphere turned violent.
Moore, along with Ward's assistance, bound Johnson and Coleman with wire. He then forced them into the back of their own vehicle and drove to a wooded area in Fall Creek Corridor Park. There, he shot both Johnson and Coleman in the head with a. 45-caliber handgun. To conceal the crime, Moore and Ward later returned to the vehicle with Moore's half-brother, Clarence McGee, and set it on fire with gasoline. Firefighters discovered the severely burned bodies of the two friends in the back of the torched Jeep.
The investigation quickly led to Paul Moore after ballistic tests matched the bullets from the victims to a handgun previously confiscated from him. Moore was arrested on July 31, 2003, and charged with murder, criminal confinement, and arson. Curtis Ward and Clarence McGee were also arrested. In exchange for reduced charges, Ward testified against Moore and McGee. In April 2004, a jury found Paul Moore guilty on two counts of murder, as well as criminal confinement and arson. Clarence McGee was convicted of arson, assisting a criminal, and obstruction of justice. On May 5, 2004, Moore was sentenced to 120 years in prison, while McGee received a 10-year sentence for his role. Ward faced charges of criminal confinement, arson, and assisting a criminal.
