A father allegedly shot and killed his wife, two children and his young niece and nephew minutes after one of the children’s birthday parties.
Brandon Allan Kendrick, 32, faces five counts of capital murder after the mass shooting on his pastor grandfather Allan’s property in rural Alabama.
His wife Kelse Kendrick, 24, was found dead along with their children Kaleb, 6, and Kynli, 2, and cousins Colton, 8, and Haley Daniels, 6, on Thursday night.
Kelse and her side of the family were celebrating Colton’s ninth birthday, but she returned around 7 p.m. after Kendrick demanded she come home.
Kynli Kendrick, 2, Kaleb Kendrick, 6, Colton Daniels, 8, and Haley Daniels, 6, were found shot to death in rural Alabama Thursday night.
Brandon Allan Kendrick, 32, allegedly shot and killed his wife Kelse Kendrick, 24, (left), along with their daughter Kynli and son Kaleb, and the children’s two cousins.
All five were shot in the head and found dead at the scene, except for Haley, who was still breathing and was rushed to the hospital but did not survive.
Kendrick allegedly shot his family to death in the garage apartment they lived in on Allan Kendrick’s property in West Blocton, about 40 miles south of Birmingham.
Allan is the pastor of Oasis of Praise Church in nearby Bessemer, and called 911 around 8:18 p.m. Thursday after finding the bodies.
Kelse’s uncle, Eli Morrow, and his wife Brittany said the party was held at the home of family patriarch Bill Morrow ahead of Colton’s birthday on Tuesday.
Kendrick was not at the party because his schizophrenic episodes had worsened over the previous two weeks.
“All the kids had to spend the night at (Bill’s) house,” Brittany told DailyMail.com.
‘Brandon repeatedly begged and pleaded with her to come home and she relented… within an hour they were all shot in the head.’
Kendrick faces five counts of capital murder after mass shooting
Haley and Kynli together at a July 4th family gathering two weeks before they were killed.
Brittany explained that Colton and Haley’s mother, Jessica Morrow, 35, was having major surgery the next morning, so there was no choice but to send them with Kelse.
“We live 45 minutes away from here. I wish they would have asked us to take them overnight,” he said.
“What we find most difficult is that it was a last-minute decision to take them there, it was never in the plan because they knew he had been acting crazy.”
Kelse’s car broke down, so Jessica dropped the five off at her home on Green Tree Drive around 7 p.m.
Kelse is the niece of Eli’s older sister, who has since passed away, and Bill’s grandfather, and the Morrow and Kendrick families have been intertwined for generations.
Eli had custody of Colton and Haley from January 2021 until last November, when a judge allowed them to return to Jessica.
“Jessica finally got her kids back and then this happened,” Brittany said.
‘I am devastated and heartbroken… Eli and I had full custody of them for almost three years and they were my babies.’
Kendrick allegedly shot Kelse and the children less than an hour after they returned home from Colton’s birthday party around 7 p.m. after he demanded she return home.
The shooting took place on his pastor grandfather’s property in rural Alabama (Kaleb is pictured with his sister and the family dog on his first day of preschool).
Police responded to the scene and arrested Kendrick after discovering the bodies, Bibb County Sheriff Jody Wade said.
“It’s absolutely horrific. It’s unimaginable what the family is going through, what the family’s friends are experiencing, what the community is feeling right now,” she said.
“It was such a horrible scene that even the most experienced officers told me it was the worst they had ever seen.
“As officers move forward, they say there are more children who have been shot.”
Wade said Kendrick had not yet told police why he did it, but “I don’t know what motive he could give us that would justify what he did anyway.”
Kendrick was booked into the Bibb County Jail around 3:30 a.m. and was denied bail.
He is charged with four counts of capital murder of a child under 14 years of age and one count of capital murder for the killing of two or more people in a single act.
Kelse’s uncle, Eli Morrow (top right), had custody of Colton and Haley (front left and right) from January 2021 until last November, with the help of his wife Brittany (top right).
Kendrick and Kelse lived with their children in a garage apartment on the rural property of Kendrick’s grandfather, Allan. Allan is the pastor of Oasis of Praise Church (pictured here preaching there).
Oasis of Praise Church held a prayer vigil with more than 300 members Friday night, saying proceeds from the collection would go to the families.
‘The pastor wanted us to pass on to everyone who was asking if they could do something: “Tell everyone who is asking if they can do something that they can be at church on Sunday at 10am,”‘ the church wrote on its Facebook page.
Instead, Eli Morrow started a GoFundMe page to help pay for the funeral, with his wife explaining that the family did not want Allan’s money.
“None of the family members are comfortable with him paying anything; he has offered to cremate them and have a funeral at his church, but the family has declined,” Brittany said.
“But we started the fundraiser because we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to pay for five funerals.”
