In the early morning hours of November 20, 2021, the life of 17-year-old DaNedra Sessoms was tragically cut short on a street in Valdosta, Georgia. A female, she was a junior at Valdosta High School with aspirations of graduating in 2023. Known to be a member of Union Cathedral, she was active in the youth and young adult department.
On that fateful Saturday, at approximately 5:10 a.m., a citizen’s call to E911 reported a shooting at the intersection of West Gordon Street and Lankford Drive. When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered Sessoms in the road with gunshot wounds. Despite the efforts of both officers and citizens to provide first aid until emergency medical services arrived, she was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Information gathered at the scene quickly pointed to Kendrick Mitchell, a 17-year-old African American male who was known to Sessoms, as the individual who had shot her. After the shooting, Mitchell fled in a vehicle, which he soon abandoned before escaping the area on foot. The Valdosta Police Department promptly obtained arrest warrants for Mitchell on charges of felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
For a time, Mitchell's whereabouts were unknown, and law enforcement sought the public's assistance in locating him, cautioning that he should be considered armed and dangerous. On Sunday, November 28, 2021, Kendrick Mitchell turned himself in to the Lowndes County Jail without incident. In March 2023, Mitchell, then 18, was convicted of murder for the death of his former girlfriend. The trial revealed that after a dispute, Mitchell had his mother drive him around until they spotted Sessoms driving his car. He then exited his mother's vehicle, approached Sessoms, and shot her multiple times. He even shot her again after she had fallen into the road, all while his mother was present. Following the conviction, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
