ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A community is in mourning after the loss of a St. Pete city worker who was shot and killed Wednesday while sitting in her sanitation truck.
Investigators said it was a domestic situation that led to a multi-county manhunt and police chase.
On Thursday, a memorial outside of the sanitation department where Natasha Moses worked continued to grow.
Mayor Kenneth Welch sent out a letter to employees Wednesday night that addressed her death. He talked about what Moses meant to the community and the resources available to those affected.
Friends called her a devoted mother, friend and proud sanitation worker.
“What makes me so proud about her when I see her in general is that she’s a woman on that tractor,” said Nancy Dunham.
Dunham said Moses worked hard to get and keep that job for more than a decade.
“Shocking would probably be an understatement,” Dunham said of her friend’s death. “It affected so many people. Just to watch so many people be out there. To watch her daughter, say out of her mouth, like, ‘I thought (the suspect) loved my mom.’ She was literally crying, saying that non-stop.”
St. Pete police say 44-year-old Ladavion King climbed into her vehicle and shot her multiple times.
Her lifelong friend, Jervon Newton, said it happened right in front of her Childs Park home.
Co-workers say they were shocked to learn that the alleged suspect fled the scene. He was arrested after a stand off in Ft. Myers hours later.
The arrest brought very little comfort to those who say this should have never happened in the first place.
Friends and co-workers said she leaves behind many loved ones and called her a “light” in the world.
“Her smile, her smile for sure, and the fact that she showed you that women could do multiple things,” Dunham said of Moses.
Police say they haven’t filed charges yet against the suspect in this case. He was still in a hospital Thursday in Lee County.