Left: Jeffery Kendall (Pinole police). Right: Brittany Ligdis, foreground, with her mother (GoFundMe).
A California man, 39, has been sentenced to spend the next several decades in prison for killing his former girlfriend while she tried to protect herself and their young son inside a laundry room — a crime prosecutors described as “an execution in front of a 4-year-old child.”
Jeffery Kendall received a sentence of 50 years to life in state prison for the murder of 30-year-old Brittany Ligdis, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. In May, a jury found Kendall guilty of first-degree murder and child endangerment.
Ligdis had called 911 after Kendall forced his way into her home. The emergency call recorded the terrifying final moments of her life, as she told dispatchers she was hiding in the laundry room with her son. Kendall found her there moments later.
Before the call had even reached the two-minute mark, Ligdis could be heard pleading, “Let go of me,” and telling Kendall, “you’re scaring him,” before shouting, “stop it.” Kendall then fired a single shot into her head, killing her. Their son, who was 4 at the time, cried out “mommy” before running from the room.
Pinole police found Ligdis dead from a gunshot wound in a home in the 500 block of Summit Drive on Feb. 16, 2024. Cops, having identified Kendall as the suspect after he was captured on home surveillance cameras fleeing the scene, issued a “be on the lookout” alert for his Hyundai Elantra. Later that evening, California Highway Patrol troopers spotted the car and took him into custody after a traffic stop.
Kendall was also convicted of possessing an assault weapon after authorities said he used a 3D-printed pistol capable of semiautomatic fire. During the sentencing hearing, the judge called the case “one of the most difficult” he had encountered. Kendall is barred from contacting his son unless a court approves it, a restriction that remains in place until November 2035, when the child turns 16.
After Ligdis’ killing, her aunt, Nancy O’Neil, told Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU that the little boy had been deeply traumatized by what he witnessed.
“He keeps saying ‘mommy’s dead, mommy’s dead,’” O’Neil told KTVU. “We replay it in our heads over and over every day.”
Ligdis had apparently broken up with Kendall about a week before the murder. Her friend Kassandra Santiago said in an interview with the outlet that Ligdis sent her a text saying Kendall did not take the breakup well.
“She said to me ‘I’m doing OK, but it’s really hard. He’s very unpredictable right now,'” she said.
Santiago said Ligdis was studying at Diablo Valley College to become a nurse. She was known for her passion for nursing and her willingness to help fellow students, Santiago told KTVU.
“She had so much going for her,” she said.
Relatives said her son is now staying with family members.
Friends of her mother, Cathy Ligdis, started a GoFundMe to help with finances.
“Brittany was not only a devoted daughter to Cathy but also a dedicated nursing student and a loving mother to 4-year-old Liam,” the description said.
The post ‘Execution in front of a 4-year-old child’: Man blows ex-girlfriend away as toddler son watched while they hid in laundry room during break-in first appeared on Law & Crime.
