Overview
- Kendra Scott was charged with first‑degree murder and employing a firearm after police found 20‑year‑old Rodderius Morton dead on her front porch with a gunshot wound to the back of his head.
- Police say officers responded to the home following a shooting that occurred on July 16 and that Scott was arrested at the scene after a neighbor reported hearing a gunshot and seeing her holding a handgun.
- The arrest affidavit includes Scott’s statement that she “saw a dude under my kids’ bed” and told police she “did what I had to do,” the juvenile’s account that she had invited Morton into the house, and a neighbor’s report that Scott said, “I shot him, I shot him.”
- Investigators recovered a Smith & Wesson handgun and one spent shell casing on the front porch, and news outlets report conflicting pretrial details with some saying Scott is held without bond and others reporting a $100,000 bond and an August 3 hearing.
- Legal experts and both sides will focus on whether Morton posed an immediate threat and on autopsy results, doorbell camera footage, and other forensics that will shape use‑of‑force and Castle Doctrine arguments in the coming hearings.