Greater than two years after a California mom’s frantic 911 name ended together with her 4-year-old son seeing her fatally attacked, the person prosecutors recognized as her killer is headed to jail for many years.
Jeffery Kendall, 39, was sentenced Monday to 50 years to life for the homicide of 30-year-old Brittany Elizabeth Ligdis, who had ended their relationship simply 10 days earlier than she was killed, the Contra Costa County District Lawyer’s Workplace stated.
In Might, a jury convicted Kendall of first-degree homicide and baby endangerment, discovering that he positioned the couple’s younger son in a harmful and traumatic state of affairs.
Reserving photograph of Jeffery Kendall after his arrest in reference to the Brittany Ligdis homicide case. (KTVU)
In response to prosecutors, Ligdis known as 911 on the morning of Feb. 16, 2024, after Kendall pressured his means into her Pinole dwelling whereas she was hiding in a laundry room with their 4-year-old baby.
Roughly a minute and a half into the emergency name, Kendall received into the room.
“Let go of me,” Ligdis pleaded, in response to the district lawyer’s workplace. “You’re scaring him.”
Legislation enforcement officers handcuff Jeffery Kendall after his arrest in Santa Cruz, California. (California Freeway Patrol)
Moments later, she screamed, “Cease it,” earlier than Kendall shot her within the head, prosecutors stated.
The couple’s son cried out, “Momma,” and fled the room whereas Kendall ran from the house. Responding officers discovered Ligdis lifeless from a gunshot wound to the pinnacle.
Deputy District Lawyer Tylyn Wells described the killing as “an execution in entrance of a 4-year-old baby” and argued it was not the results of “a psychological break,” in response to the district lawyer’s workplace.
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A legislation enforcement officer escorts Jeffery Kendall via a police facility after his arrest. (California Freeway Patrol through FOX 2 San Francisco)
As a substitute, Wells stated the homicide mirrored a sample typically seen in home violence circumstances, the place the hazard escalates after a sufferer decides to go away.
Wells requested the court docket to impose a sentencing enhancement that elevated Kendall’s punishment to 50 years to life.
Contra Costa County Superior Court docket Choose Glenn Kim known as the case “some of the troublesome” he had skilled earlier than imposing two consecutive phrases of 25 years to life.
Kim additionally barred Kendall from contacting his son, with restricted exceptions topic to court docket approval, till November 2035, when the boy turns 16.
Individually, Choose Kim convicted Kendall of illegally possessing a 3D-printed semi-automatic pistol and decided that a number of components supported a harsher sentence.
One yr after Brittany Ligdis’ demise, her mom shared an emotional video urging household and pals to recollect her daughter’s life fairly than the violence that ended it.
Brittany Ligdis smiles whereas holding her younger son in a household {photograph} taken earlier than her demise. (KTVU)
“I need this to be a day to recollect Brittany, to memorialize her, the superb particular person she was,” she stated. “Consider her — all of the issues we miss about her, her kiss, her hug. I’ll miss all the pieces myself. I’ll love her perpetually.”
Kendall stays in county jail awaiting switch to the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The Pinole Police Division instructed Information Outlet it had no touch upon Kendall’s sentencing.
The Contra Costa County District Lawyer’s Workplace didn’t instantly reply to Information Outlet’s request for extra remark.
