Father of Salena Claybourne's two children was on the phone with her when she was shot and killed; 'I heard everything'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- When 35-year-old Salena Claybourne was shot and killed this week at a South Shore gas station, the father of her two children says he was on the phone with her at the time, and felt helpless as he heard the gunfire that took her life.
Claybourne, a security guard at WGN-TV, was gunned down in the middle of the day at the Mobil gas station at 67th and Jeffery on Monday during a carjacking attempt. Antoine Moore, the father of her two daughters, said he's still in shock from the loss.
"The last words that she said was, 'Oh, my God!' and, and that was it," Moore told CBS 2's Asal Rezaei.
Moore said he heard at least five gunshots over the phone.
"I just kept calling her name, and I just was hoping that she would just say, 'Oh, it's okay,'" he said.
But Moore never heard another word from her. Instead, he immediately heard police sirens and knew they were heading to where Claybourne was shot.
"I heard everything on the phone. I just block that out now. I keep playing that back in my head over and over," he said.
Police said Claybourne was shot just after pumping gas at the Mobil gas station at 67th and Jeffery. Prosecutors said two brothers – 17-year-old Dameonte Watson and 22-year-old Gregory Watson – approached her to try to steal her car, and Gregory Watson ended up shooting her several times.
Both are charged with first-degree murder.
Moore said processing Claybourne's death has been excoriating. He said he talked to Claybourne almost every day for the last 16 years, mostly about co-parenting their 14- and 15-year-old daughters.
"I still feel like she's gonna call me, and we can just talk about how crazy this past week has been, but I know that will never happen," he said.
Moore said he lost his own 23-year-old son to gun violence in November, and while he continues to grieve his death, he knows he has to step up for his girls, so they can get through this tragedy together.
"I have to make sure that what Salena wanted is carried out, and that my daughters get the best that this world has to offer," Moore said.
Moving forward, Moore created some normalcy for their daughters and deal with the challenges they have to face moving forward.