Teen confesses to shooting mother

TUSCALOOSA | At first, Daniel Kelsey Hendrix told a neighbor that someone had come into his home, held him at knifepoint and shot his mother early Saturday morning. But the 18-year-old later confessed to shooting his mother, Daphne Wyatt Hendrix, in their home, according to court records.

Kip Hart, an investigator with the Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide Unit, included the information in a request for a warrant to arrest Hendrix in the killing of his mother, who was a nurse at DCH Regional Medical Center.

Daniel Hendrix, who lived with his mother at 1839 Inverness Parkway, was arrested Saturday, with warrant issued Monday.

According to Alabama law, a person can be arrested on a felony charge with a warrant issued up to 48 hours after the initial arrest.

"The defendant confessed to the crime and gave details to substantiate the confession," Hart wrote in the request.

Joel Sogol, Daniel Hendrix's attorney, said he has not seen his client's statement and could not comment on what he said.

Without commenting on the case, Sogol said a person could shoot someone under circumstances such as self-defense without committing murder and that admitting to firing a gun does not mean a person is guilty of a crime.

Hendrix, a 2004 Hillcrest High School graduate was released from the Tuscaloosa County Jail on Tuesday morning, according to jail records.

A $10,000 cash bond was posted for his release Tuesday in Tuscaloosa County District Court, according to court clerk Elizabeth Hamner.

Franklin D. Hendrix, the suspect's grandfather, delivered a money order at 11 a.m. Tuesday to the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse. He declined to comment Tuesday afternoon.

Under state and federal laws, a person is entitled to bail on every charge except capital murder, District Attorney Tommy Smith said. Daniel Hendrix is entitled the right to defend himself even with the confession, Smith said.

"On any case, the state has the burden of proof," Smith said. "Statements are part of that, but not all of it."

No court date has been set for Daniel Hendrix, and he has not requested a preliminary hearing, Hamner said Tuesday.

Danny Scott, 50, a neighbor of the Hendrixes, said Tuesday in an interview with The Tuscaloosa News that Daniel Hendrix first blamed the shooting on unidentified burglars.

Scott was awake when he heard a gunshot at 4:19 a.m. Saturday, he said.

Not long after he heard the shot, Hendrix called the Scotts and asked them to call E--911 because someone had come into the house and shot his mother, Scott said.

Before the call could be made, Hendrix was banging on the door, Scott said.

Scott said he and Hendrix ran next door while Hendrix told him that unidentified suspects held him at knifepoint and then shot his mother.

Hendrix said he had not been in the bedroom where his mother was shot, Scott said.

While Hendrix paced on the sidewalk in front of the house, Scott went to check on Hendrix's mother, but he saw that she'd been shot, Scott said.

"I've seen death before, but I tell you that's one of the worst scenes I've walked into," he said.

Scott came back outside, and neighbors were coming outside to see what was happening. Scott said that he told them to go back into their homes because whoever was in the house might be nearby.

"I honestly thought during this whole situation, until the investigators got out there, that we were looking for assailants that broke into the house," Scott said. "I knew something wasn't right because after I heard the gunshot, I raised up the blinds and saw nobody speeding from the scene or leaving the scene.

"I started putting two and two together, and I just backed off and let them handle it," he said.

Scott has lived next door to the Hendrixes for about five years, and his daughter used to baby-sit Daphne Hendrix's youngest child, an 11-year-old, he said.

The family was nice, and Daniel Hendrix had good manners, Scott said.

"I did not hear no fussing and no fighting up until I heard the gunshot," Scott said.

Daphne Hendrix's death is compounded by the death of her husband and Hendrix's father, former firefighter Randy Hendrix, who committed suicide several years before, said Battalion Chief Jack Thompson of Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue.

"It's very touching," Thompson said. "We take care of the widows forever. It's like losing a member of the family.

"I knew this young man's father, mother, brother, aunt. It's very dear to all of us. It's one of those things you don't forget," he said.

Thompson said he went to visit and try to comfort Franklin Hendrix, who is a retired investigator for the Fire and Rescue Service.

"All I can do is pray for you," he told Franklin Hendrix. "It's one of those things where the human mind can't understand another human mind.

"Sometimes prayer is the only thing you can comfort people with," he said.

In an obituary written by longtime family friend and retired county school superintendent Joyce Sellers, Daphne Hendrix 42, is described as a kind, compassionate woman.

"Daphne Hendrix was a caring, single mother who worked very hard to provide for her three children, whom she loved dearly," Sellers wrote in the obituary.

Services for Daphne Hendrix will be today at 11 a.m. at the Rev. Billy Gray will officiate. Burial will be in Memory Hill Gardens.

Staff writer Tina Bennett contributed to this story.

Reach Adam Jones at adam.jones@tuscaloosanews.com or 722-0230

Court records show that Daniel Kelsey Hendrix, 18, who at first told a neighbor that burglars had come into his home, held him at knifepoint and shot his mother, later confessed to shooting Daphne Wyatt Hendrix.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Teen confesses to shooting mother