Pittsburgh Tribune Review | By Bill Vidonic
Two days before Deandre Moon was born in 1994, his father was paralyzed in a shootout with state drug agents.
Friends said Wednesday the younger Moon used his father’s experience as motivation to make a better life for himself, hoping to turn his prowess on the high school football field into a professional career.
“He was looking forward to seeing his dad (also Deandre Moon) out of state prison someday so he could raise (his son),” said Alyjah Elmore, 17, a close friend of the younger Moon and fellow Rochester Area High School football player.
Moon, 18, of Rochester was shot in the groin on a houseboat moored at the New Brighton Marina on the Beaver River in New Brighton early Wednesday and bled to death after friends rushed him to the hospital.
New Brighton Area police Chief Charles Van Fossan said police believe a fight broke out on the houseboat just before 2:30 a.m. Police were interviewing the owner of the houseboat, David Mooney, 19, of New Brighton, on Wednesday evening. There were no charges filed as of Wednesday night.
Van Fossan said Moon, Mooney and an unnamed woman were on the boat during the shooting. Van Fossan said police have identified friends who took Moon to the hospital.
Friends said Moon was being raised by his godmother, who could not be reached. His father, at the age of 20, wounded three drug agents during an undercover drug buy in a Rochester apartment in 1994. He was sentenced the following year to between 22 and 46 years in state prison.
Moon’s mother, Keisharra Abercrombie, of Rochester, was charged with assault in February 2008 after nearly severing the ear of a Rochester bartender with a beer bottle after the woman refused to serve the pregnant Abercrombie alcohol. Abercrombie pleaded guilty to a count of aggravated assault and was sentenced to three years’ probation.
Police last year charged a California man with stabbing Moon at least seven times during a fight.
But friends said Moon didn’t dwell on his tough home life and concentrated on football instead.
“Football was like a lifestyle to him,” said Preston Johnson, 17, who had played football with Moon for one season. “He was talking about football 24-7.” He added that Moon loved weightlifting and playing games.
“He was like a big brother to me,” Johnson, of Rochester, said.
Moon was a first-team, all-state selection by the Pennsylvania Sports Writers last fall after rushing for 1,675 yards and 31 touchdowns on 220 carries in leading the Rams to the WPIAL Class A semifinals.
The 5-foot-10, 210-pounder ran for 931 yards and 17 touchdowns on 107 carries as a junior. Moon signed to play football at Concord University, an NCAA Division II school in Athens, W.Va., in February.
However, Elmore said that Moon had changed his mind and planned to go to a junior college in California. Elmore said that after the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association East-West game, held at Gateway on May 6, Moon realized he could play well against Division I players.
“He was motivated and determined to win,” Elmore said.
Concord officials didn’t return phone messages yesterday.
Friends were planning to hold a candlelight vigil for Moon beginning at 10 p.m. Wednesday at the high school football stadium.
The Rochester Area School District announced on its Web site that counselors would be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the high school.
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