Family's long wait for justice ends with sentencing in fatal road-rage case

WOODBURY – A family's long wait for justice has ended with a prison term for a road-rage killer.

Everett E. Moore of Clayton received a 24-year term for the aggravated manslaughter of Joseph Pirri, a 32-year-old Blackwood man on March 7, 2018.

Moore, 58, "heavily slashed" Pirri's face as the victim sat in his car on Tanyard Road near Mail Avenue in Deptford, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.

Road-rage attack killed a family man

Pirri, the married father of a son and stepdaughter, was "just trying to get home from work" when the assault occurred during a severe storm, according to a GoFundMe campaign to help his family.

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“He was just an amazing person all around,” Megan Pirri, the slain man’s wife said in an interview Monday. “Our home was always filled with laughter and joy.”

Pirri, a Pitman High School graduate, "would do anything for anyone and he did multiple times," said Betty Jean Hampton of Lindenwold, the victim's mother-in-law.

"He carried these qualities with him even in death, as he was an organ donor," she said at the June 29 sentencing hearing. "Joe's donations were able to save the lives of three people."

Pirri's thoughtfulness also showed when he proposed to his wife, who had a daughter, Alyssa, from an earlier relationship.

"He got down on one knee and asked her to be his step-daughter," said Hampton.

Moore did not address the family at the hearing, she noted.

But Pirri's wife had scornful words for Moore at the hearing.

"Your act was vicious, it was cold, and it was violent," said the widow, pointing out she had spent part of her first wedding anniversary at her husband's grave.

"What you did to Joe that day, my husband, a step-father, and father, was horrific and evil," she said.

The sentence brought justice, but no satisfaction, Pirri added in the interview.

“It’s just hard for me,” she said. “Even if (Moore) is in prison, he can still see his family. He can smile and laugh."

“The only way we can see Joe is photos, video and a headstone.”

Joseph Pirri, who worked at LKQ Auto Parts in West Deptford, was able to describe Moore and his pickup truck after the attack. But he died in a hospital eight days later.

Moore, a construction worker, was arrested on April 25, 2018 after investigators were able to identify his vehicle.

Moore, who was also found guilty of weapons offenses, must serve more than 20 years before parole eligibility under the state’s No Early Release Act.

Before imposing the sentence, Superior Court Judge Kevin Smith addressed the legal system's distinction between justice and vengeance, said Hampton.

"That hit home for us," she said in an interview.

"At the same time, she said of Moore, "I don’t forgive the man at all for what he did. He’s a monster."

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Everett Moore was convicted of killing Joseph Pirri in highway attack