Couple Indicted in Murder of Boy, 7

Jan. 31, 2022 – A young man and woman have been indicted in a drive-by shooting last Fourth of July in North Memphis in which a 7-year-old boy was killed and two women were critically injured, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

    A grand jury indicted Jordan Pittman, 19, and Angieline Kennedy, 21, on first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony, and reckless endangerment.

    The incident occurred around 11 p.m. on July 4, 2021, at a residence in the 700 block of North Montgomery St. near Jackson Avenue.

   Witnesses said a Mazda sedan drove up and a passenger got out, shouted something, and began firing a handgun. Seven-year-old Kelby Shorty, who was playing in the front yard, was struck several times and died at the scene.

   Also, a 29-year-old woman was struck in the arm and leg, and a 22-year-old woman was shot in the upper thigh. Both were hospitalized with critical injuries.

   Bullets also penetrated the home where five other people – including three children under age 10 – were inside. No one was hit.

   Investigators developed Pittman and Kennedy as suspects, and arrested Pittman two days later. Kennedy was arrested two days after that in Covington, Tenn., and was returned to Memphis.

  Pittman is being held on $1 million bond. Kennedy is being held on $100,000 bond.

    The case is being handled by Chief Prosecutor Theresa McCusker of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 1 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 7 (Veteran’s Court) and Criminal Court Division 1.