The Insulin Injection That Sparked a Murder Charge
She wasn’t prescribed insulin. And she didn’t need it. But she got it anyway—twenty units, straight to the shoulder, allegedly from her own daughter.
It was just before midnight on May 25th, 2023, when first responders arrived at an apartment in Grafton, West Virginia. They were there for a cardiac arrest call. Inside, they found 81-year-old Ethel Moore already dead. Her body was lying on the bed in the back room. Her daughter, 61-year-old Kelly Louise Moore, was there too—on the phone, telling someone, “It’s bad.” She seemed, according to police, more annoyed than distressed.
When paramedics asked what happened, Kelly told them her mother’s blood sugar had been high, so she gave her insulin. Not hers, but Kelly’s. Kelly has diabetes and is prescribed insulin. Her mother was not.
One of the EMTs on scene told the first cop who showed up, “I think she really killed her.” And that hunch would later be backed up by science.
Kelly Moore said she hadn’t been feeling well that night either—claimed her own blood sugar was low, so she went to bed around 8:30 p.m. Ethel, recovering from a recent hip replacement, also wasn’t feeling great. That’s when Kelly said she checked her mom’s blood sugar twice. It was high both times, so she decided to give her some of her insulin. She told police, “I gave her some of my insulin.”
The amount? Twenty units. That’s a hefty dose—especially considering Kelly herself, who is more than double her mother’s weight, takes 30 units per dose under her doctor’s care. And her mother wasn’t prescribed any. At all.
Police noticed that Kelly seemed irritated throughout the interaction. She mentioned how much her mother was dealing with—arthritis, heart issues, dementia—and that she was the one “elected” to live with her since she was the only sibling not married. She allegedly told cops, “She had all kinds of s— wrong with her.”
But on the same day she died, Ethel had called her other daughter in Florida, saying Kelly “wasn’t doing nothing for her.” That daughter called back in a panic, concerned that their mother wasn’t being taken care of. According to the affidavit, Kelly never told her sister that she had given Ethel insulin—only that she’d died, letting the family believe it was complications from surgery.
It wasn’t until August 2024, more than a year later, that the medical examiner’s report came back. Cause of death: insulin shock. Manner of death: homicide.
After hearing that, detectives circled back to the sister in March. She handed over the death certificate—likely still under the impression this was all post-op related. Then, just last week, police arrested Kelly Moore. She’s now in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail without bond, charged with murder in the death of her mother.
Ethel Moore’s obituary paints a very different picture than the cold details in the affidavit. It describes a woman who hugged everyone she met, who found joy in trips to Walmart and McDonald’s, and who could strike up a conversation with just about anyone. A woman who read books, loved her family, and lived a full life—until one decision ended it.
#TrueCrime #WestVirginia #ElderAbuse #InsulinHomicide
Want to listen to ALL of our podcasts AD-FREE? Subscribe through APPLE PODCASTS, and try it for three days free: https://tinyurl.com/ycw626tj
Follow Our Other Cases: https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com
The latest on The Downfall of Diddy, The Trial of Karen Read, The Murder Of Maddie Soto, Catching the Long Island Serial Killer, Awaiting Admission: BTK’s Unconfessed Crimes, Delphi Murders: Inside the Crime, Chad & Lori Daybell, The Murder of Ana Walshe, Alex Murdaugh, Bryan Kohberger, Lucy Letby, Kouri Richins, Malevolent Mormon Mommys, The Menendez Brothers: Quest For Justice, The Murder of Stephen Smith, The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury, The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore, and much more! Listen at https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com
