Left: Kelly Moore (Tygart Valley Regional Jail). Right: Ethel Moore (Bartlett Funeral Home).
A West Virginia woman is facing charges nearly two years after authorities say she fatally poisoned her 81-year-old mother by injecting her with unprescribed insulin.
Kelly Louise Moore, 61, stands accused of murder in the 2023 death of Ethel Moore. Police and paramedics in Grafton, roughly 140 miles northeast of Charleston, responded shortly before midnight on May 25, 2023, to a cardiac arrest call at an apartment. EMTs arrived and pronounced Ethel Moore dead on scene, a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime said.
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The EMTs told cops that Kelly Moore had explained she was a diabetic and was prescribed insulin. She allegedly said her mother’s blood sugar was high earlier in the day so she gave her 20 units of insulin. Her mother was not prescribed insulin by a doctor, cops noted.
“I think she really killed her,” one of the EMT’s told the first responding officer, according to the affidavit.
Cops entered the apartment as the younger Moore was on the phone, telling the person on the other line “it’s bad.” She seemed “angry and annoyed,” police said. Ethel Moor’s body was lying on a bed in the back bedroom.
Kelly Moore said she hadn’t been feeling well because her blood sugar was low so she went to bed around 8:30 p.m. on the night in question. Her mother also wasn’t feeling well as she was recovering from a hip replacement procedure that was performed about a week prior. She further stated her mother’s blood sugar was “really high.”
“I gave her some of my insulin,” Kelly Moore allegedly told cops.
She then went onto describe her mother’s health ailments which included arthritis “all over,” heart problems and dementia. Cops noticed the defendant “seemed very annoyed.” She allegedly said that’s “why I’m here with her” and that her mother “had all kinds of s— wrong with her.” Kelly Moore said she had been “elected” to live with her mother as she was the only one not married.
Ethel Moore on the day in question had called her other daughter who lived in Florida and claimed Kelly Moore “wasn’t doing nothing for her,” the affidavit said. The sister called “freaking out” that her mother wasn’t being taken care of, the affidavit said. The defendant checked her mother’s blood sugar twice and it was high both times, which is what led her to inject her with the insulin in the shoulder. Asked how much she injected herself, she said her doctor prescribed her to take 30 units three times a day. She gave her mother 20 units. Cops noted that Kelly Moore is more than twice as heavy as her mother.
After the medical examiner came into the home, the defendant “sat down on the recliner,” covered herself with a blanket and began sobbing, the affidavit said.
The ME took custody of the body and conducted an autopsy. Prosecutors in August 2024 received the results of the autopsy that determined Ethel Moore died of insulin shock and the manner of death was homicide.
Kelly Moore never mentioned to her sister that she injected their mother with insulin, leading her to believe she died of complications of the hip surgery. On March 10, detectives spoke with the sister, who provided them with the decedent’s death certificate.
Cops arrested the defendant last week. She remains in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail without bond.
According to her obituary, Ethel Moore had five children, six grandchildren and several great grandchildren.
“Ethel never seen a person unless she gave them a hug,” the obituary said. “She liked taking trips to Walmart and McDonalds where she always found someone to talk to. Ethel enjoyed relaxing while reading a good book. She loved spending time with her family and cherished the time she spent with each of them.”
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