Kendra Scott was arrested after Rodderius Morton, 20, was found by police with a gunshot wound in the back of his head outside her home. She allegedly told cops: “I did what I had to do.”
A mum has been charged with murder after she allegedly shot and killed a man who was hiding under her teenage daughter’s bed. Kendra Scott reportedly told cops in the US: “I saw a dude under my kids’ bed, and I did what I had to do.”
She was arrested after Rodderius Morton, 20, was found by police with a gunshot wound to the back of his head outside her home in Memphis, Tennessee. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Scott, 36, was charged with first degree murder and possession of a firearm. Her lawyer said the situation was “the worst nightmare of any parent of a 13-year-old girl.”
Cops were called to reports of a shooting at around 1.40am on July 16, local media reports. Officers found an unresponsive man lying in the front yard “suffering from a gunshot wound to the back of his head,” an arrest affidavit states.
Her daughter told cops she invited Morton to the family’s home at around 1am, the court document says. Scott arrived home around 30 minutes later and became enraged, banging on the front door and shouting “who’s at my house?”
The teen told cops that Scott had previously warned her that if she “sees a boy in my house I will put a hole in his a**.”
The teen eventually let her mum in the house, where Scott is said to have found Morton hiding under her bed, court documents state. She is then said to have shouted: “Get out of my house bitch.”
She followed him out of the house and a neighbour then reported hearing a gunshot. The neighbour told police he came outside and saw Scott, still holding the gun, standing by the man’s body and saying: “I shot him, I shot him.”
Officers recovered one spent shell casing on the front porch, as well as a Smith & Wesson black handgun, court documents states. Scott is currently being held without bond. Her first arraignment hearing is scheduled for Friday, July 24, public court records state.
Scott’s lawyer Blake Ballin told local media: ”One of the key questions in this case will be whether anyone could act rationally in this circumstance.”
Retired police officer and firearm self-defense trainer Buddy Smith told Action News 5 the case may not qualify under Tennessee’s Castle Doctrine, which protects someone from criminal prosecution or civil liability if they use reasonable force against an intruder.
The legislation means a person is “allowed to protect the people in your residence when someone breaks in to commit a violent felony against you or someone in your house.”
But he said: “The affidavit does not allege that [Morton] threatened the mother or anyone else at that time. Those alleged facts will likely be important issues for the court, and ultimately the jury.”