Witnesses, video: Chaos followed 2025 shooting on Tower Boulevard in Lorain that killed 2

ELYRIA — It was total chaos outside 1139 Tower Blvd. in Lorain on the afternoon of April 11, 2025. Multiple Lorain police officers and first responders who were called to the strip mall about 5 p.m. walked into the aftermath of a gunfight between two groups of young men. Larry Moore Jr., 21, of Lorain was dead, shot multiple times. Lorain police had to scramble to stop bystanders from loading him into a silver Subaru Legacy to take him to a hospital. Not far away was Jayzeir Gaddy, 17, of Avon, shot in the head but still alive. He later died at a Cleveland hospital. Testimony Tuesday in his brother's murder trial in Lorain County Common Pleas Court was that a nurse gave Jayzeir Gaddy first aid. Video from police body-worn cameras caught multiple people shouting. "Put pressure on!" someone shouted. "He has a pulse!" a woman's voice shouted. "Where. Is. The ambulance?!" a woman shouted. Lorain police and the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office said Jayzeir Gaddy and his older brother Willie Gaddy Jr., 22, ambushed Moore and a group of other men outside a barbershop that day. Willie Gaddy Jr. is charged with eight felonies including aggravated murder, murder and felonious assault for allegedly shooting and killing Moore and causing the death of his brother. He has pleaded not guilty and is expected to argue that he acted in self-defense. First on the scene, Officer Kyle Shawver testified his job was to detain Willie Gaddy Jr. — on the phone with 911 and still carrying an alleged murder weapon in his pocket — secure the scene and make sure Jayzeir Gaddy and Moore got proper care. "You do what is needed in the moment," Shawver testified. Footage from his body-worn camera showed him arriving, detaining Willie Gaddy Jr. at gunpoint and seizing a Taurus 9 mm handgun. Prosecutors allege that gun was used to shoot and kill Moore. Willie Gaddy Jr. could be heard on video telling Shawver he was trying to get help for his "baby brother" and asking what was going to happen to his gun. A Glock 17 9 mm handgun with a 30-round extended magazine was found next to Jayzeir Gaddy, former officer Robert Hargreaves testified. Hargreaves testified that there was so much evidence at the scene he used all 50 police evidence markers he had in his vehicle. Bystanders shouted at Shawver on the video and criticized police for securing the scene. "They're doing their job," Shawver shouted at a woman at the scene, apparently referring to other officers. "F*** their job! That man is alive," the woman shouted back. It wasn't clear if she was talking about Moore or Jayzeir Gaddy. Defense attorney Joseph Morse criticized Shawver telling his client to "shut the f*** up" as Willie Gaddy Jr. asked him questions. "It's a very chaotic scene," Shawver testified. "Sometimes you have to be focused and direct with that person." Morse also questioned whether police immediately — and wrongly, he suggested — focused in on his client as a murder suspect when there were other potential suspects with Moore. Shawver calmly testified that Willie Gaddy Jr. was treated as a suspect only after investigation. Barber Deandre Ellis also testified that Willie Gaddy Jr. and Moore's 2-year-old son were the only two people who had appointments at his barbershop that day. He speculated that Moore showed up before the shooting to pick up his son. Ellis testified he had to separate Willie Gaddy Jr. and an apparent rival, Knowledge King, when the two "had words" as Willie Gaddy Jr. left the shop and King arrived. The exchange started as "What's up?" then turned into yelling and arguing, Ellis testified. "I just broke it up," he testified, after "the tone changed" into "an aggressive tone." Ellis also testified he told Jayzeir Gaddy to walk away when the teen tried to enter the barbershop as his brother left. Prosecutors allege that the Gaddys waited around after the argument, left the area, then returned and ambushed Moore and his friends with gunfire when they showed up. Jayzeir Gaddy shot and wounded Moore first but was fatally wounded by return fire from a .45-caliber Glock handgun carried by someone in Moore's group. That shooter has not been identified and that gun has not been recovered. Willie Gaddy Jr. then allegedly shot Moore nine times as he lay wounded on the ground, killing him. Ellis testified he got on the ground when he heard the gunshots and he didn't see the shooting, only looking outside when it was over. "I didn't see anybody running around. I just seen" Jayzeir Gaddy on the ground, he testified. Testimony resumes this morning. Judge Donna Freeman on Tuesday moved the trial from her courtroom on the seventh floor of the Justice Center to a courtroom on the fourth floor after construction noise disrupted testimony. Technology difficulties in the fourth floor courtroom caused further delays. Tuesday was the second day of Willie Gaddy Jr.'s trial. He rejected a plea deal last week that would have had him sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 21 years. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.