Community rallies around 5 children after mother killed by stray bullet

ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - The St. Petersburg City Council and the Pinellas County School Board, along with the family of shooting victim 38-year-old Aesha Kendrick, held a news conference Wednesday night on Kendrick's front porch where she was shot, calling for an end to senseless gun violence.

"She was a great mother," Kendrick's cousin Lakeita Powell said. "She loved her kids. She would go to the moon for her kids no matter what."

38-year-old Aesha Kendrick was killed by a stray bullet Sunday morning while she was sitting on her porch eating breakfast. Her five kids, ages 1 to 17, are now without a mother.

According to the family, Kendrick had just got a new job as a nurses assistant at a local nursing home. Her family says she had a gift for caring for people.

"She was a very funny person," Powell said. "Everyone loved her. She was very sweet and I don't know if I'm gonna find anyone like her ever again."

Wednesday night, community leaders and neighbors came together on the same porch where Kendrick was shot and called for an end to senseless gun violence.

"Every life is valuable," Pinellas County School Board Chairperson Rene Flowers said. "Every life counts. As a community, we have got to begin to understand--that regardless of what you believe individually--collectively, we have to be held accountable."

According to Police, 29-year-old Jamal Walker got out of his car at the corner of 45th Street South and 20th Avenue South and starting firing multiple shots at a passing pick-up truck. At least one of those bullets hitting Kendrick on a porch. A neighbor rushed over and started giving her CPR, keeping her alive until medics arrived. They rushed her to the hospital, but she later died of her injuries.

Powell has a message for people behind the senseless gun violence.

"Stop acting like you are an outlaw," Powell said. "Stop doing things without thinking. To me, it's like people do things and they don't think about the repercussions on the back end."

Walker is currently facing one count of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

A GoFundMe page has been created to help Kendrick's family with funeral expenses and other expenses related to her five children. If you would like to donate, click here.