A Birmingham mother of four has been sentenced to prison for the domestic shooting death that was initially deemed justified.
A Jefferson County judge sentenced 31-year-old Felesha Rashaad McBride to 13 years in the Alabama Department of Corrections.
McBride was convicted in September in the slaying of 32-year-old Mario Joe Kindred.
The shooting happened Aug. 17, 2020, in the city’s Titusville community.
Birmingham’s South Precinct officers responded about 1:45 p.m. that Monday to UAB Hospital after they were notified a man had been brought there with a gunshot wound.
He was pronounced dead at 3:01 p.m.
Investigators then learned the shooting had taken place at 308 Gamma Street and began to process that scene. Police at the time said multiple gunshots were heard there and witnesses saw a female driving a small silver sedan flee the scene.
There were also reports of a physical altercation prior to the gunfire.
McBride later turned herself in at Birmingham Police Headquarters, and police said the shooting appeared to be domestic.
Two days later, investigators presented their evidence to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office for review and the homicide was deemed justifiable.
On Oct. 22, 2020, however, investigators resubmitted the case to the district attorney’s office based on new developments and McBride was charged and arrested.
McBride’s trial began Sept. 16, 2024, before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Streety and ended with the guilty verdict.
Jurors were allowed to consider the lesser charge of provocation manslaughter but unanimously to convict on murder.
Jefferson County Deputy District Attorneys Bella Colombo and Blake Owens prosecuted the case. Attorney Roger Appell defended McBride.
McBride is the mother and sole caretaker of four children, ages 12, 9, 6 and 1. Appell argued that she is a hard worker and loved by her family and friends and asked for a split sentence of 20 years with three to serve.
“Felesha is a mother and a caregiver. She has done everything to rehabilitate herself,’’ Appell wrote in court documents. “Society, nor her family, would be benefited by a long incarceration.”
Streety sentenced McBride to the 13 years, the minimum under voluntary guidelines.
McBride was allowed to remain out on bond pending her sentencing Monday. She was booked into the Jefferson County Jail to await transfer to the Alabama Department of Corrections.