Mark McCord Jr. was a 21-year-old man remembered by a high school friend as a genuine person who would reach out to people he cared about. A graduate of Hendersonville High, his parents both worked for the Nashville Fire Department, which described the McCords as part of their family.
In the early afternoon of February 8, 2023, police in Hendersonville, Tennessee, responded to a call of shots fired on Cole Court at approximately 1:22 p.m.
A neighbor reported hearing what sounded like five gunshots, like fireworks. Officers arrived to find Mark McCord Jr. in the front yard of a home, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. According to court documents, he had run to a neighbor’s house for help after being shot. He was rushed to Hendersonville Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.
Surveillance video from a nearby home showed three men getting out of a vehicle, entering a home on Cole Court, and then running away after about ten gunshots were heard. Witnesses told police they saw three men fleeing the area on foot. The men then got into a white Chevrolet Equinox driven by a fourth individual that was parked several blocks away. Officers with the Hendersonville Police Department and the 18th Judicial Drug Task Force spotted the vehicle and pursued it into Metro Nashville. The chase ended when the car stopped, and its occupants attempted to flee.
Law enforcement apprehended three people at the scene: Quentin Taylor, age 21; Dominic Smith, age 20; and Indyja Mitchell, age 26. The fourth suspect, 31-year-old Woodrow Sales Jr., escaped but surrendered to police a week later, on February 15. Taylor, Smith, and Sales were each charged with first-degree murder and evading arrest. Mitchell, the driver, was charged with evading by motor vehicle, driving without a license, speeding, and failure to obey a traffic control device and a stop sign.
In April 2026, following a four-day jury trial in Sumner County, Woodrow Sales Jr., Dominic Smith, and Quentin Taylor were convicted of the first-degree murder of Mark McCord Jr. All three men were sentenced to life in prison for the murder. A hearing to determine sentencing on their remaining charges was scheduled for May 2026.
