Cops make arrest in toddler shooting

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) - It was back in November when a Niagara Falls toddler was shot in the face  and her mother issued a plea. She said, "You was a man when you had the gun. Now be a man. My daughter is down and somebody is going to have to pay for this.”

There's been a major break in the case, with the prime suspect turning himself in. J’Raeona Moore was sitting in the backseat of her mother’s car when a bullet struck her in the face. Niagara Falls Police say the man who fired that shot is behind bars.

Police say Willie Scott Jr. turned himself into police Wednesday. The incident occurred early in the afternoon of November 27th when a car pulled alongside another car in the parking lot of a convenience store, The Hometown Grocery, on Pierce Avenue.

In the backseat of the second car, was little two-year-old J’Raeona Moore. Her mother was shopping for groceries, inside, and her mom’s boyfriend was in the front seat.

The suspect reportedly fired two rounds into the car and drove off, and J’Raeona was struck in the cheek by one of the bullets, she survived.

Police were onto a possible shooter, 32-year-old Willie Scott Jr, a convicted drug dealer, almost from the start. Now, six weeks later, Scott turned himself in without incident.

Niagara Falls Police Detective Lieutenant Michael Trane said, “Early on in the investigation, we had learned he was the suspect we had in mind, and we have been looking for him ever since then, we just had not been able to find him. We were putting heat on the family, and friends, and neighbors.”

Willie Scott Jr. is being held without bail at the Niagara County Jail. He is charged with first-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon. A family spokesman says J’Raeona had reconstructive surgery at Women and Children’s Hospital after the shooting. She has been released and is doing a lot better at home.