University Times

City homicide detectives continue to investigate the death of Pitt housekeeper Delfonte D. Ellis, who was shot Nov. 2 in the Hill District.

Ellis, 43, who typically walked to work, was found with multiple gunshot wounds on Shawnee Street shortly before he was to report for the night shift at Scaife Hall. No arrests have been made nor has a motive for the crime been determined, a police spokesperson said.

A former Marine, Ellis joined Pitt’s Housing department in 2004, then bid up to a position at Scaife Hall in 2008. By agreement, housekeepers in Scaife Hall are Pitt employees, but are managed by UPMC.

Deloris Mosley, a housekeeper in Housing who trained Ellis, said he sought the night shift to give him time with his daughter, who recently turned 3. “He took her to school every morning — on his shoulders,” Mosley said, recalling how Ellis, the father of three sons, had been thrilled to have a baby girl. “He was all smiles” in sharing the news with co-workers, she recalled.

“He had a million-dollar smile.”

Mosley, whom Ellis called “Miss Dee,” said he was gentlemanly and hardworking, bringing a joyful, helpful attitude to his work. “You could not find a better person to work with,” she said. “He loved his job and loved his family. We loved him.”

Mosley said she was stunned to learn of Ellis’s death on the news while getting ready for work last week. “It was a hurting thing. Everyone always loved him. He was willing to help anybody. I don’t believe the man had an enemy,” she said.

Housing staffer Carla Love, who joined the University staff just a few months after Ellis, likewise remembered him as conscientious, polite and devoted to his family.

When there was strenuous work to be done, he’d insist on going the extra mile, especially when it came to lending a hand to his female co-workers. Although he wasn’t a large man, he was extremely strong, she said. “I got that, Miss Car,” he’d insist when heavy lifting needed to be done.

“He was always willing to help anyone,” she said, recalling an instance when Ellis, even though he had completed his shift, wouldn’t leave until he’d helped her and another co-worker with their assignment to move heavy dorm room furniture into an elevator.

Outside of work, Ellis loved watching the Steelers, Love said.

He also was active in the community, coaching baseball. “He loved children,” Love said.

“He was a great guy, a fantastic man.”

Co-workers and managers from Scaife Hall also mourned Ellis. They released the following statement: “Our entire department is deeply shocked and saddened by Delfonte Ellis’ tragic and senseless death. Our team is a close-knit group and we have a general feeling of family within it. Losing Delfonte is a blow to each of us and our thoughts and prayers go out to his real family.  He’ll be missed tremendously.

“It’s been very difficult for our work group to grasp the tragedy and circumstances and truly understand how much he will be missed moving ahead.  It’s our hope that his family can be comforted to some degree, knowing that he left a kind and caring memory and positive mark on all of us. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.”

Ellis is survived by his children Delfonte, Trayvon, Lafon and Amara Ellis; two grandchildren; his companion, Tamara Prince; mother Louella Foster; stepfather Kirk Foster, and brothers Hayward and Timothy Ellis and Kirk Foster Jr.

Funeral services were held Nov. 8.

—Kimberly K. Barlow