Wichita man ordered to stand trial in shooting death of 8-year-old girl

By Marc LaVoie and Dan Dillon

CREATED Nov. 20, 2012

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Cheris Moore could not contain her tears as she listened to testimony Tuesday in the preliminary hearing of Zachary Gaston, the 24-year-old man who is charged with first-degree murder in Moore's 8-year-old daughter's death.
 
Gaston is accused of trying to shoot at a car that was speeding away from The Oaks mobile home park on Sept. 4. A stray bullet struck Kimbra Moore as she slept, killing her. The home is located in the 3000 block of South Broadway. 
 
The first person to testify in the hearing was Kimberly McDonough, 46, who was in another mobile home when she was struck in the head with a stray bullet. She said she heard her husband yell for everyone to get down and then she felt a burning sensation on her head.
 
McDonough said she yelled, "Oh my God, I've been shot!" She immediately felt blood coming from the wound which would take 12 staples to close later that night. She was released from the hospital hours later.
 
McDonough said she still has nightmares and headaches that require medication.
 
Wichita Police Officer Justin McCluskey was the first reponder on the scene. The Moores had slept through the gunshots and he knocked on the door after he saw a fresh bullet hole in the home.
 
Cheris Moore led the officer through her house, both of them unaware of what had happened. McClusky saw what appeared to be three small children alseep on a trundle bed.
 
"I saw Kimbra with laying on the bed with a puddle of blood near her head," McCluskey said. "About the time I got on the radio to call EMS, Miss Moore saw what I had seen. She screamed and woke up the children."
 
Kimbra's little brother and sister, William and Jennifer, were not hurt.
 
After about four hours of testimony Tuesday, Sedgwick County Judge Clark Owens found that there is enough evidence to require Gaston to stand trial for first-degree murder, aggravated assault and othe crimes. A tentative jury trial date was set for Jan. 14.

 

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(earlier story)

A preliminary hearing is underway in Sedgwick County District Court for Zachary Gaston, the man charged with first degree murder for firing a shot that killed Kimbra Moore. The 8-year-old girl was asleep in her bed in a south Wichita mobile home park. 

This morning before District Judge Clark Owens, the child's mother wept as a police officer described finding the girl shot to death early the morning of Sept. 4. Wichita Police Officer Justin McCluskey testified he found the little girl dead in her bed with a pool of blood next to her head.  

The first person to testify was Kimberly McDonough, who was shot the same night as Moore. McDonough was watching a movie with her husband in their mobile home. She testified her husband heard the shot and said, "Everybody get down. Get down!" McDonough then realized she had been shot. "I felt a burning sensation in my head and said 'Oh my God. I've been shot.'"

McDonough was taken to Via Christi Hospital on St. Francis, where she received 12 staples in her head for a graze wound. "I still have nightmares and headaches."  

The shots were fired in a mobile home park in the 3000 block of S. Broadway. Gaston was arrested, and has been held in the Sedgwick County Jail on a $500,000 bond.