PART: IV - "The Inquest and Trial" The Death of James"Nookie"Christian Kendrick Jr.12/5/1943
A young boy was killed, confusion exist as to how he was killed and by whom?
The family was in an uproar, shocked and angry, but grieving! Denyse ran and told Alice that Nookie was laying on the ground not moving, Alice goes to him and see's he has been shot in the back and dead. ( The Coroner stated the gun shot wound was made by a 22 cal. bullet and had severed the spine of James Kendrick Jr., it had left him paralyzed so he could not move or call out and possibly lived one or more hours laying in this spot before being discovered.) Alice returned to the house. Denyse asks Alice if it is possible she could have shot Nookie; Alice answers No! She then sends Denyse to the Willinghams and calls the police. In the questioning by the police Alice states that someone had tried to break into the house trough a window and she fired at them as they ran across the yard but they got away.The police didn't go for that story and charged Alice with the death of James C. Kendrick Jr. her adopted son. Denyse was sent to stay with the Kendrick family and her adopted father James C. Kendrick Sr. on the farm just down the road.
The following is retyped copies ( as originally written) of the testimonies of Denyse Kendrick, Grady Rollins, and Alice S. Kendrick. These are not the whole testimony but pages from which we were furnished by Tracy Williams through Jan Page for me to do this story. I have coped them to this page as to allow you to read them, as we have, to form your own opinion on this trail and verdict.
Denyse Kendrick's Testimony
(Copied from 1944 Trial Records, as written typos and all)
Part of another page.
...mother if we could have a drink and she said we could and she went to the meat house and got some Royal Crown and we played a little while longer
and Julia said she had better be going because she was going to spend the night with Martha Brown. I went to in the house and asked my mother if
I could go over there and stay until they got ready to leave. She said I could but to come back as soon as they got ready to leave. So I went over there and stayed over there until Martha got ready to leave and then I come back to the house.
Q. While you were over at Julia's house , did you hear a rifle fire?
A. No Sir.
Q. You didn't hear it fire?
A. No Sir
Q. Did you see Nookie when you went over to Julia"s house the second time?
A. No sir, I did not.
Q. Did you know where he was then?
A. No sir.
Q.And you came back from Julia"s house , did you come alone or did the children come with you?
A. They walked to the little road going down to my house.
Q. To your driveway?
A. Yes sir.
Q. You left them down at the road?
A. Yes sir.
O. And went down to your house?
A. Yes sir.
Q. When you got to your house where was your mother?
A. She was standing on the door stoop . I walked up there to the door stoop and she said, " Do you know what happened?" I asked her, I...said, "What?"
she said, " Nookie tried to break in the window, I didn't know who it was, so I got my rifle and shot. I didn't hit because I shot straight up."
Q. She said she shot up?
A. Yes sir. She said "Go get the chicken feed and feed the chickens". I went to the garage and got my chicken feed, I was coming back and she said " Don't fool around the bushes". I says "why, Mother?" She said, " I have my reasons. Go on and feed the chickens." So I went and fed the chickens. and
come back.
Q. "you fed the chickens like your mother told you?"
A. Yes sir.
Q. As you came back from feeding the chickens, did you go to the bushes?
A. No sir. I was coming back and I saw Nookie's dog Gyp coming towards me and I saw Nookie lying in the bushes. Pinkie was laying on his arm and Lady was beside him.
Yes sir, I didn't think anything was wrong. I says "Nookie, if you don't get up I am to get your watch."
Q. Did Nookie answer you when you said if he didn't get up you were going to take his watch?
A. No sir, he didn't say anything. I went and got the Royal Crown Bottle we had been drinking out of and got some water in it and sprinkled it on his face. He didn't say anything. I tried to make him drink some and he wouldn't swallow. I went in the house and told mama Nookie was out in the bushes and something was wrong with him because I tried to make him speak and he didn't say anything. She said ' No, ut your chicken pail back in the garage, he is just faking." As I went to put the bucket in the garage Mamma went up towards where Nookie was lying. I come back and Mamma was gone and Nookie had changed the position he was in the first time. So I stayed out there and then Mamma come back on the door stoop and said, "Is he scratched anywhere?"
Q. Who scratched?
A. Nookie. I said " His chest was kinder scratched up". she said, " I have just called the police they are on their way out here" She said, Bring me his watch", So I brought Nookie's watch to Mamma. Then the police came out and they said he was dead, and Mamma started to crying, and said she didn't mean to do it and didn't know who it was. Mr. Rollins come up there and asked me if I didn't want to go and play with Julia Willingham. I said yes. So he took me over to Julia's house and told Mrs. Willingham not to let me go back home until they come after me. So I stayed over there until Kellene co me over there and took me over to her house.
Typing stops here. Testimony goes on to the next page. ( lost not in court records)
Mr. Grady Rollins testimony in Kendrick Trail May 1944. Mr Rollins was crusting timber on land just North West of the Rock House off Mitchell Cove Road the day of the shooting of Nookie Kendrick.
Q. Did you here any loud talking at that time near you?
A. Yes sir.
Q. There was the loud talking?
A. In Mrs. Kendrick's house in the yard.
Q. Who was doing the talking?
A. Mrs. Kendrck.
Q. Where was Mrs. Kendricks at the time
was doing that talking?
A. When I first heard her talking , I didn't see her until I got back from the upper end of the woods and then went towards her house. I was right over the branch. The voice was raised higher than it was to start with and I looked up there.
Q. Could you distinctly catch the words she was speaking?
A. Part if them I could understand.
O. Will you tell the jury what she said?
A. I heard her talking as I come down the hill to the mail boxes. Just about the time I got even with the mailbox to the path that went to the house I could understand her and the first thing I heard her say, "What did you come back here for? I told you to leave and not come back. This place belongs to me and I don't want you around here . Then I was turning to the right as I heard that. Then when I got in the woods, me and this negro begun talking about the trees we were cutting and I didn't pay any attention to what she was saying then. I come up maybe fifty yards from the road and looked around and told the negro--
Mr. Allen : I object.
The Court: Don't tell that.
Witness: I wanted the negro to show me the line because he had been
living there longer than ....had. We turned and went towards Mrs. Kendrick's house and I stood over the branch and I was facing the mountain looking toward the mountain and the old negro was standing to the right facing Mrs. Kendrick's house.
Q. Was Mrs. Kendrick in your vision?
A. When I turned to the left a little I could see her house but I wasn't facing the house.
Q. Did you hear any words spoken?
A. Then when we stopped I begun to pay attention to what she was saying again and she was talking so loud I glanced up that way and I saw an apron or a woman's dress on the stoop at the back door. I could just see in left hand side, I never recognized who it was, and she was still fussing.
TYPED AS IS
Q. She repeating almost what she had said when I first heard her, "I want you to leave here now. I told you I did not want you round here; don't want you on this place; you don"t belong here. You go back over the mountain where you belong and not come back here any more.
Q. To whom was she then talking?
A. I didn't hear her call any names.
Q. What did you see or hear?
A. About that time she said " I told you not to come back here a silence and then the door slammed, and then I imagine , ten or fifteen seconds , along there, the door slammed again, and then just as the door slammed the rifle fired.
Q. How many times did you hear the rifle fire?
A. Once
Q. Just Once?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Could you distinguish whether it was a rifle?
A. I had a twenty -two rifle at the time and it was a twenty-two rifle.
Q. In what direction were you looking when you heard the rifle fire?
A. I was looking towards the mountains.
Q. Then did you see Mrs. Kendrick?
A. Nothing but the apron of her left hand side.
Q. Didn't see anyone else?
A. No sir.
Q. That in Meriwether when you got there?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Did you later go to Mrs. Kendrick"s house that same day?
A. Yes sir.
Q. You did?
A. Yes sir.
Q. You see Mrs. Kendrick when you got there?
A. Yes sir.
Q. You did see her?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Going back.. to hearing hearing the gun fired, immediately after gun fired , did you hear any words spoken or not?
A. Everything was quiet for a few seconds, I couldn't say how long, but not long. Me and the negro started to turn to go back to my house and Mrs. Kendrick said, "Now get up from there and leave there, you little brat, I told you not to come back to start with; get up from there and leave."
Q. Was that all you heard?
A. There was a quietness for a little time, I was waking. The last thing I heard her say , " I told you to get up and leave, I don't want you around here; get up and leave there. I don't care if I did hit you; that is what I intended to do".
Q. Where was Mrs. Kendrick when you heard these last words?
A. Standing on the stoop.
Q. How far was it from the culver over the branch where you were standing, to the stoop or porch where Mrs. Kendrick was standing, in your judgment?
A. I would say it was somewhere around 150 yards. That is my estimate.
Q. After you went to the house later, after the shot was fired, I believe you say you saw Mrs. Kendrick.
A. Yes sir.
Q. What sort of dress did she have on?
A. I don't remember what sort.
Q. From the culvert over the branch to the Kendrick's house, tell the Jury whether it is uphill or down hill?
A. Her house is up hill from where the culvert is.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. ALLEN
Q. How long would it approximately take you to walk it-how long would it take you to walk down there a quarter of a mile?
A. The way I was walking didn't take us over ten or fifteen minutes. Now I talked to the negro some after he fell. He didn't leave immediately after he fell.
Q. You went on down there, you never paid any particular attention to what was going on down there at Mrs. Kendrick's
A. At that time.
Q. Yes?
A. No, I wasn't paying any attention.
Q. You never did see Mrs. Kendrick to identify her?
A. I didn't see anything but her shoulder.
Q. You wouldn't swear that was Mrs. Kendrick?
A. "I would swear it was her".
Q. You wouldn't swear it was her?
A. No
Q. That was a good a view a you ever got of her when you saw the apron on the woman's shoulder?
A. Yes sir.
Q. That is the only thing you saw at that time?
A. Yes sir.
Alice S. Kendrick's Testimony, May 1944 on Trial for Murder of Nookie Kendricks
Testimony copied from Page 187, of court records, found in the Greenville, Georgia Meriwether County Court House by Edna's granddaughter Tracy Williams; and later sent to Jan Page the Spring of 2007.
Testimony (not complete document) starts with this sentence.
I had given him this police dog as a birthday present the year before. I told him I thought his father had the papers but he said his father said he did not have them, that they were at the house. I asked him where his father was. He said they had just taken the cook, Bertha, home and that he had walked from the chicken farm. The desk was just a just a dresser with just one drawer in it and we put receipts and some papers in it for safekeeping. I asked Nookie if he wanted something eat, it must have been two o'clock or after that, and Denyse had already eaten her dinner and was over to Julia Willingham's. He said he was very hungry and that he had eaten nothing since Saturday at dinner . He ate his dinner and and also mine, got up and got himself a glass of milk. As a rule he did not like milk, so I knew he was hungry. I stayed in the kitchen with him until he had finished eating, talking with him. He wanted to wash the dish
for me, on account of my hand. It was hurt badly at that time so I could hardly use it. I told him to run along, that I would manage to wash the dishes but to feed the chickens for me, which he did. He was a happy as any child could be and kissed me as he was going out . There was nothing at all. Any suggestion that I was mad with him or made any effort to him is the creation of Mr. Kendrick. It must have been around two thirty when Nookie left the house after eating his dinner. Shortly after Nookie went out the door Julia Willingham, Martha Brown and my little daughter, Denyse, came up. The three girls played in the yard. They took turns swing, pumping and playing tag and running around the yard. I stood on the step for a while and watched them play. They all seemed so happy. Nookie came back into the yard from feeding the chickens. Denyse asked if she could go to with Julia, and I agreed, and then Nookie said he wanted to go with Billy Collier. I told him he could if he would clean himself up. While the children were playing in the yard Denyse asked if they could have a drink., and I went to the meat house and got the three girls an R. C. cola. Nookie said he would take his later. While the girls were there that afternoon Denyse told them about hunting and that she could shoot the twenty-two rifle. They did not believe it and she asked me to let her shoot once to convince them she could shoot the rifle. I first said no, that we were short of cartridges and they were hard to get, but she begged, as a child her age will, and I yielded and told her she could shoot one time. My son had gone over about the boat house, the last time I saw him.
I got the rifle and brought it out to her. It was a single shot twenty-two rifle. I pulled the ejector and saw the rifle was loaded. Denyse and I went on the stoop and Julia and Martha came up on the stoop. At that time I noticed that Nookie had come back from the boat house and was sitting in a chair out in the yard looking some funny books. I did not know how long he had been out there, as I did not see him come back from the boat house but my. I tried to pull the plunger back so Denyse could shoot the rifle my hand was so bruised and hurt that I could not pull it back. Denyse was jumping and down, so eager to shoot, and said let Julia pull it back. Julia reached over and succeeded in pulling the plunger back. Julia handed the rifle to Denyse and she shot it. I did not pay any particular attention to the direction Denyse shot, but I was under the impression that she shot down towards the branch. I took the rifle back into the house and locked it up in the closet. I imagine that was about four thirty when she shot the rifle. I did not think of Nookie at the time, as I thought he was still sitting out in the yard, reading funnies. While I was in the house I noticed Julia, Martha and Denyse go around the house. I thought that Denyse was going to walk down to Julia's house and started to write a letter. In a few minutes, maybe thirty minutes, Denyse came into the house and said ,"Mother" , Nookie is lying on the ground. He frequently did this and I had cautioned him about doing this, as he could catch cold. It was a balmy Sunday afternoon and I just thought he was lying on the ground because it was warm and pleasant outside. I told Denyse to tell him to get up, that he might take cold. Denyse went outside in the yard and came back and said he would not get and would not answer her, and she had taken his wrist watch, telling him she would throw it in the pond, to make him get up, but he did not. I got up to go out and told Denyse that Nookie was only fooling her. I open the door and standing in the door I saw Nookie lying there and I called to him and told him to get up. He did not move and I ran out to him an saw that he was dead. On yesterday Denyse said that I told her when she came back from Julia's home there had been as accident, and that I mistook Nookie for a burglar. Denyse did not testify there had been an accident , and that mistook Nookie for a burglar. Denyse did not testify this when she was sworn on the commitment hearing. On that hearing she testified that she found him laying in the hedge and told me about it. What I am telling you now and what Denise swore on the commitment hearing is the truth. I know that Mr. Kendrick has gotten her to change her story?, I know that Denyse is too young to appreciate the importance of what she now says and I can't blame her, for she has been under her father's control since I have been in jail, and in his animosity towards me he had influence her to tell it like he wants it to be.
After Denyse told me about finding him out there, I am not positive what I said or did. I do know that I did not realized then he had been shot, and the mystery of it shocked me so that in my grief and anguish I can't say what I did say or what I did not say. I told Denyse to go and call the Willinghams. I was there alone and did not know what to do. I do know that the thoughts occurred to me that maybe Denyse accidentally shot Nookie when she fired the rifle. I then resolved in my mind that if this did happen I would never let her know that she killed him. I did not know whether she might be punished if she did this accidentally or not but I made up my mind not to allow her to go through life with the burden of killing her brother eating upon her. I tried to think up excuses, should it be found that he had been shot. I called the police and asked them to come at once. I told them there had been an accident and my little boy was dead. I then went back in the yard and Denyse was there and she said, "Mother, do you reckon I did it"? I told Denyse I did not know what had happened but that I was sure she did not do it, and that mother would fix it when she found out what had happened.
When the officers came and found out he had been shot, Mr. Tucker asked me if I shot him and I first said no, I then thought of Denyse. I knew it was an accident, and to shield her I then , as I see not, very foolishly tried to claim that I shot at someone coming through the window, and later found it to be Nookie. I saw that the officers did not believe me and then I resolved that I had to tell the truth about it. I told them that Denyse had fired the rifle and it was possible that she accidentally killed him.
I had never been told, and never heard until yesterday that after Denyse fired the rifle that someone fired a rifle somewhere near my house, when she was at Julia's house the last time. I had not heard this or been told of this until yesterday, when Maideu Willingham testified this. I know nothing about who fired this shot. I do not know where Nookie was when it was fired. I was in the house and don't remember hearing any shot. It is ................End of pages made available of Alice S. Hendrick's Testimony.
This written Testimony started on a previous page and continued to another page. This is not all of Alice's Testimony. We were unable to get copies of any other witnesses testimony that were heard in the trial. All pages were lost, stolen, or misplaced on the Kendrick's Murder Trial case while in the Greenville, Georgia Meriwether County Court House. These were the only pages sent of copies by Tracy of the originals made at the court house in 2005.
On with the story---- Alice S. Kendrick was found guilty in this case of the involuntary manslaughter of James Christian Kendrick Jr. and was sentenced to 18 months in State Prison, also in this trial James C. Kendrick Sr. was granted a divorce from Alice, with a disability added that she could never marry again. Custody of Denyse was given to her adopted father James Kendrick Sr.
Alice did go to Jail, not like most of us would think jail would be, not to State Prison but to Meriwether County Jail ( the old one across the street from the court house) where she served almost all her 18 month sentence in her cell (a carpeted apartment furnished with goods from {her past lover} Walter Dannenburg's store in Macon, Ga.; some say even her own telephone).
Oh, there's more! The rest of the story on Alice and James lives in:
Part V: The Conclusion of the Alice and James Kendrick Story!
Read My Informative and Historical Stories on columbusgaonline.com
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