‘We lost one of our own’: York County officials remember slain assistant manager

York County Manager Bill Shanahan started Monday morning with a grievous task. He called a department head meeting to discuss the death of Assistant County Manager Anna Moore, who was shot to death in her home Sunday.

Moore, 50, was one of four people found dead at 985 Dunlap Roddey Road in Rock Hill about 5:45 p.m. Sunday. Also dead were her husband, Randy Eugene Moore, 55, her son Jason Lockamy, 31, and her son’s girlfriend, Lora Kathryn Young, 31. All four died of gunshot wounds.

“It wasn’t real until we walked in the office this morning,” said Shanahan, while speaking with reporters Monday morning. “York County government is a family, and we lost one of our own.”

Shanahan said Moore supervised multiple departments during her 10 years as assistant county manager, including Public Safety Communications, Animal Control and the Department of Fire Safety.

“She will be missed by not just the York County government but the citizens of York County,” he said. “When the fire trucks show up at your house and put out that fire, when the ambulances show up and get you to the hospital and save your life, when you need someone just to talk to – Anna made that possible. Every life that’s saved, whether she’s here or not, she was responsible.”

Former York County Councilman Curwood Chappell also was saddened to hear the news of Moore’s death.

“York County citizens lost a dedicated employee,” he said. “She did her job well.”

While Moore served as acting county manager, Chappell said, she worked hard “trying to keep peace in the valley” during a time of transition.

County Council Chairman Britt Blackwell recalled working closely with Moore during that process.

She was reluctant to take on the interim role, Blackwell said, but “she was a true professional about it.” During the transition, Blackwell said, Moore provided “solid” leadership and displayed tremendous work ethic.

Shanahan said Moore, who was previously county manager for a smaller county, took him under her wing when he came to York County.

“She told me, ‘Don’t do that,’ a couple of times. It was needed,” he said. “Anyone can have people around them that are yes people, that are gonna tell you what you want to hear. As you go forward, that hurts. You need people that have strong character and have enough respect for you and enough professionalism in themselves to say, ‘Don’t do that.’”

Former County Manager Jim Baker on Monday recalled Moore’s kindness when his wife and son initially couldn’t come with him when he left St. Louis, Mo., to work in York County.

“When I first came to York County, Anna knew my family was still back in St. Louis,” he said. “There wasn’t a holiday that came up Anna didn’t come into my office and say, ‘Why don’t you get a head start and go back and see your family?’”

County officials on Monday weren’t aware of plans for memorials.

Shanahan said county employees will find a way to continue on while coping with Moore’s absence.

“I reminded them that, whether she’s here or not, she loved them,” he said. “She would want them to go on, and she would want them to keep doing great things and to serve the citizens of York County. That’s what we’re gonna do.”

The Herald’s Bristow Marchant contributed

This story was originally published July 6, 2015 at 10:06 PM with the headline "‘We lost one of our own’: York County officials remember slain assistant manager."