By james art 
A Birmingham mother of four has been jailed for a domestic shooting that was initially ruled 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 of killing 32-year-old Mario Joe Kindred.
The shooting occurred on August 17, 2020 in the Titusville community.
Birmingham South Precinct officers responded around 1:45 p.m. this Monday to UAB Hospital after being notified that a man had been brought in with a gunshot wound.
He was pronounced dead at 3:01 p.m
That’s when investigators learned the shooting happened at 308 Gamma St. and began processing that scene. Police at the time said multiple gunshots were heard there and witnesses saw a woman driving a small silver sedan flee the scene.
There were also reports of physical violence before the shooting.
McBride later turned himself 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 killing was deemed justified.
However, on October 22, 2020, investigators reassigned the case to the district attorney’s office based on a new development, and McBride was charged and arrested.
McBride’s trial began on September 16, 2024, before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Streety, and ended in a guilty verdict.
The jury was allowed to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter but unanimously convicted of murder.
Jefferson County Deputy District Attorneys Bella Colombo and Blake Owens handled the case. Attorney Roger Appel defended McBride.
McBride is a single mother to four children, ages 12, 9, 6 and 1. Appel argued that she was hardworking and loved by her family and friends, and asked for a split sentence of 20 years with three to be served.
“Felesha is a mother and a caregiver. She has done everything to rehabilitate herself,” Appel wrote in court documents. “Neither society nor her family would benefit from a long prison term.”
Streety sentenced McBride to 13 years, the minimum under the voluntary guidelines.
McBride was allowed to remain on bail pending sentencing on Monday. She was booked into the Jefferson County Jail to await transfer to the Alabama Department of Corrections.