A Missouri mother welcomed her premature newborn into the world early September. However, she was informed by a family friend that she wasn’t allowed to return home because of a tragedy that would change her life forever.
Felicia Kennell tells KSDK she was in Missouri Baptist Hospital after going into labor with her son, Mason. The boy was born at 32 weeks on August 28, the report says. While the newborn was treated in the NICU and Kennell was in recovery, Mason’s eldest brother, 18-year-old Martinez Ursery Jr., waited at home in anticipation of meeting his new sibling. Kennell told reporters since he couldn’t make it to the hospital, she’d send him photos of the baby.
However, on Sept. 1, Kennell received a heartbreaking call confirming her two sons would never meet. Kennell told KSDK her friend told her Martinez had been fatally shot while in the comfort of their home on the 9400 block of Auburn Drive in North County.
“I was like, ‘Quit playing, don’t do that.’ She was like, ‘Playing? I’m not playing. It’s for real.’ I didn’t even get a chance to put Mason in my hand. I was like, ‘I got to go. I got to leave.’” said Kennell to KSDK.
Kennell said she was told the shooter was a man named Chris, whom she identified as 21-year-old Christopher Webb, Martinez’s cousin. According to court documents, Webb ended up in Kennell’s home with Martinez with a gun present, though it remains unclear where it came from.
After discovering the firearm was loaded, Webb shot Martinez in the head. Prosecutors charged Webb with first-degree involuntary manslaughter, but his motive remains unknown.
The shooting comes four years after Martinez’s dad was fatally shot in July 2020, Kennell told reporters. Kennell said she was frustrated losing her son, knowing how excited he was to meet his new brother. Yet, in the midst of her grief, she found peace.
“God took one from me but he blessed me with another one,” Kennell told KSDK.
A family member set up a GoFundMe to raise donations for Martinez funeral and burial costs. Webb is being held on a $225,000 bond.