Friends and relatives of a 16-year-old boy killed in a shootout with police in Maryland are struggling to understand how the devout church member and high school student became a suspect in the murders of his parents and sister in Kentucky.
Authorities say Jason Hendricks is suspected of killing his family execution-style before fleeing a small Southern town to the East Coast last week.
Following Saturday’s shootout, police searched the boy’s home in Corbin, Kentucky, more than 500 miles away.
There, authorities found the bodies of Kevin and Sarah Hendricks and their daughter, Grace, who was 12 years old at the time, said Corbin Police Chief David Campbell.
Police said they believe the victim died from a gunshot wound Wednesday afternoon, Campbell said.
Campbell added that Jason Hendricks then fled in his parents’ car with four weapons and a backpack filled with ammunition.
“At this point, all evidence points to him as the shooter,” the chief said.
Police don’t know why the suspect tried to flee to the East Coast, and his family has no relatives in Baltimore, Campbell said.
“I have no idea why he went there,” the chief said.
Police also found fuel receipts indicating the boy was in New Jersey on Thursday.
Baltimore County police said a boy shot and wounded an officer after crashing his parent’s green Honda Pilot into a silver sedan on Saturday.
At least six officers fired shots at Hendricks, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Maryland State Police said they had initially tried to stop Hendricks for speeding on Saturday.
Jason Hendricks, 16, was killed in a shootout with police. Photo: Facebook.
Campbell said the boy was angry that his parents had taken away his computer privileges just days before the murder.
“The mother spoke to his co-workers and was told he was very upset about it,” the chief said.
Campbell said his father was wearing a sports jacket and tie for work and was shot twice in the head.
He added that the mother was shot twice in the face and the girl was shot twice in the head and once in the arm.
Jason Hendricks was with friends at church Wednesday evening and showed no signs of distress.
“They said he was just the same as he always was,” Campbell said.
Corbin’s family and friends spent Sunday trying to make sense of the events as they remembered a boy known for being well-behaved.
Kevin and Sarah Hendricks are beekeepers who sell honey at the local farmers market, and Grace Hendricks was a middle school cheerleader.
A spokesman for Union College in Barbourville confirmed that Sarah Hendrix was a professor there.
Drew Mahan, founding pastor of Forward Community Church, which the Hendricks attended, said officers questioned Jason at length Saturday night, the day the bodies were discovered.
The Hendrix home was cordoned off with police tape after their bodies were discovered. Photo: The Associated Press
He said Jason Hendricks was a faithful member of a church founded three years ago that holds services at a local movie theater.
Hendrix arrived at the theater every Sunday at 7 a.m., helped set up the church’s facilities, and was baptized at the December service.
“People want to ask questions: Why? How? I looked at people today and I just said, ‘I don’t know,'” Mahan said after the Sunday morning service.
“He’s been here. He’s had an impact on our students, he’s had an impact on my kids. They love him.”
Breaking News – February 18th