‘Oh my God!’ The last words in a phone call that was interrupted by carjackers who fatally shot WGN-TV security guard

“Oh my God!”

Those were the last words Salena Claybourne, 35, a WGN-TV security guard, said over the phone before she was interrupted by carjackers who took her life Tuesday afternoon at a South Shore gas station.

Claybourne was speaking with Antoine Moore Sr. The pair had two daughters while in a relationship years ago, and they remained close friends ever since as they raised their children.

“I was talking to Salena about my oldest daughter. She had ripped her pants at school, and I had to take her home to change and take her back to school, and we were simply having a conversation about education. ... She pulled over to get gas, and the last words that she said were, ‘Oh my God!’ and that was it,” Moore said.

Courtesy of WGN-TV

Moore remained on the call during and after the attack. He heard a struggle. He heard five gunshots and, moments later, the voices of police and paramedics.

“I could hear them say she was not responsive, I could hear it all,” Moore said.

He shared the story Friday during a news conference outside the Daley Center.

He was on 63rd Street near the Dan Ryan Expressway when he realized what was happening on the other end of the line. He began to drive toward a gas station he thought might be the one she was at. Along the way, he saw speeding police cars and followed them to a gas station in the 6700 block of South Jeffery.

“I got there very fast. I got the chance to see her there,” said Moore, who keeps thinking about their last conversation.

“I keep playing that back in my head over and over and over, and I really can’t stop thinking about it ... and I just kept calling her name ... And I was just hoping that she would say ‘Oh, it’s OK,” he said.

“I felt helpless. I wanted to be there,” he said.

Gregory Watson, 22, and his brother, Daemeontae Watson, 17, have been charged with first-degree murder and attempted vehicular hijacking.

Moore said he was glad the brothers were apprehended. It will help his family be able to move on, he said.

He said the loss makes him want to be a better parent and set an example for others to follow, hopefully resulting in less violence in the city.

Provided

Claybourne and Moore’s daughters Saiaan Claybourne, 15, and Armoore Claybourne, 14, have a hole in their lives, he said.

“She was a great mother. She was the best mother,” he said.

“I have to make sure that what Salena wanted is carried out and that my daughters get the best of what this world has to offer for them,” he said.

Moore said the pain has been compounded because his eldest child and namesake son was fatally shot in November.

“This senseless violence in Chicago has taken so much from our two girls and myself,” he said.