CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Following the murder of her 19-year-old daughter on Christmas Day in East Charlotte, Kennedi Jones’ mother is speaking out.
“She’s gone too soon…She was affectionately known as ‘sweetie.’ She loved hard. She loved super hard,” said Kennedi Jones’ mother Angela McIntyre.
She learned her daughter had been in a car accident moments after their last conversation after their traditional, family, Christmas dinner.
“I was sitting here watching the Golden State and Laker game and she loves Steph Curry…we were talking through the game and she laughed and said, ‘You know, mom, you make me feel like I’m watching this game right now!’” recalled McIntyre. “We always, you know, say ‘I love you.’ ’Love you more.’ You know? That sort of thing. And that’s how the conversation ended.”
Two hours later, she says she got a call that her daughter was in the hospital following a serious car accident.
“I definitely didn’t want to have that head space that someone actually harmed my little girl who bothers no one. If there’s a fight…she’s going in the other direction,” McIntyre said. “I prayed and asked for strength and guidance. And I went and learned of her demise when I got there.”
Kennedi Jones’ mother Angela McIntyre flips through photos of her daughter at their family home in Charlotte, North Carolina, as she prepares for her 19-year-old’s funeral.(Credit: WBTV/ClaireKopsky)
Police had found the 19-year-old inside her car in a ditch off Shamrock Drive in East Charlotte with life-threatening injuries.
Twenty-one-year-old Dreshon Moreno was charged with her murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon. An arrest warrant not only says he killed her but that he stole Jones’ cell phone which had a value of $1000. It states he did so by assaulting Kennedi and threatening her with a pistol.
He appeared in court for the first time Thursday morning in Mecklenburg County and was denied bond due to the nature of the charges. His mother testified to his character saying he is a good person and could not have killed Jones because that is not the kind of person that he is.
This is not Moreno’s first run-in with the law. In the past few years, he has faced drug charges, trespassing as well as stolen firearm charges in multiple counties.
According to the prosecuting attorney, Thursday, there were bullet holes in Jones’ car.
McIntyre said, “My heart hurts for his mother. Because I feel like, you know, Who? Who wins at a time like this?
As she prepares to bury her daughter during the first week of the year, she has a message for other teenagers and their families.
“Put down the guns. Stop killing one another,” she said. “Families need to love on one another more. Let their children know that they are loved and, you know if something like this would ever happen, the impact it has on everyone. And not just the people present in that moment…I have a huge huge family and they all knew her and loved her so there’s a lot of hurt happening right now. From just this, This one loving soul.”
Charlotte native, Kennedi Jones on vacation with her family as a child.(Credit: WBTV/ClaireKopsky)
Moreno’s next court date is January 22.
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