State worker in Cape Girardeau named Missouri government's employee of month

A longtime Cape Girardeau Department of Corrections employee was named the State Employee of the Month for May, said Dean Watson, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Gov. Matt Blunt presented Priscilla Kincaid, an employee with the District 22 probation and parole office, with a plaque Wednesday for her service, in particular for her response to a murder-suicide in Jackson.

On Dec. 3, Kincaid was ending her work day at the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department when Katherine Moshiri ran into the building seeking help. She had suffered four gunshot wounds at the hands of her husband, Mir Shahin Moshiri. Kincaid stayed with her, trying to keep her calm and encouraging her to continue talking until she received emergency medical treatment.

In a letter to Kincaid, Department of Corrections director Larry Crawford said her extensive training in handling domestic violence probably aided in her compassionate and capable response.

"You encouraged her to keep talking, maintain eye contact, and anything else you could to keep her as focused and alert as possible until she received medical attention," Crawford wrote.

Crawford credited Kincaid's ability to keep calm and ask the right questions, and said that allowed Jackson police to prepare themselves for the situation before they got to the Mary Street residence.

Katherine Moshiri's 16-year-old son, Michael Jeffers, and daughter, Madison Moshiri, 4, were killed in the shooting, and 2-year-old Meghan Moshiri was severely wounded before Mir Shahin Moshiri took his own life.

Kincaid has been employed with the department for 16 years, Watson said.

In a letter to the Southeast Missourian, Katherine Moshiri offered gratitude to Kincaid and everyone else at the sheriff's department and Jackson police who assisted that day.

Kincaid is the liaison with the local Domestic Violence Community Response Task Force, teaches District 22's Alternative to Violence Program and coordinates a domestic violence educational program for women.

She started in District 14 in Sikeston in July 1991 before transferring to Cape Girardeau in 1994.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245