Kenric May's mother describes her late son as a passionate writer who loved poetry and was known to keep to himself. The 32-year-old grew up in Pinebluff, Arkansas, was the youngest of four, and moved to Tampa to pursue his higher education. However, Kenric's life was taken from him on April 23, 2010, when, according to HCSO detectives, a group of masked people forced their way into his home and fired the deadly shots. Ten years later, Kenric's father has passed away, and his mother is determined to find out who did this and why. HCSO detectives believe the people behind it must have spoken to someone about the incident, and therefore, someone must know something.
Mom: “he didn’t have a chance to complete his life”
Natalia Verdina, Host: NO SIGNS, NO ANSWERS, AND NO CLOSURE.
Mom: “I couldn’t believe it, I kept, the first thing that went through my mind is maybe they got the wrong person.”
Natalia Verdina, Host: THE MURDER OF 32-YEAR-OLD KENRIC MAY REMAINS UNSOLVED.
Detective: “based on everything in this one it seems kind of like revenge or anger about something”
Natalia Verdina, Host: A DECADE HAS GONE BY AND HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY DETECTIVES HAVE NOT GIVEN UP.
Detective: “there were at least three to five people somebody knows something”
Natalia Verdina, Host: WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT THE BRUTAL KILLING OF KENRIC MAY IN HOPES YOU CAN HELP US SOLVE THIS “UNFINISHED BUSINESS”
Mom: “we’ve just kind of been left hanging”
Natalia Verdina, Host: FROM HER ARKANSAS HOME… MRS. HILDA MAY OPENS UP ABOUT HER YOUNGEST SON —
THE BABY OF FOUR WHO GREW UP IN PINE BLUFF ARKANSAS —
THEIR FATHER WAS A LONG-TIME PASTOR.
MRS. MAY SAYS KENRIC WAS THE WRITER OF THE FAMILY.
Mom: “he liked writing and he wrote poems, he had some of them published”
Natalia Verdina, Host: AND DESCRIBES HIM AS SENTIMENTAL, STUDIOUS, AND SERENE.
Mom: “he just loved life and that’s why we always called him a free spirit, because if he decided to do something he went out and did it, that’s how he felt about life”
Natalia Verdina, Host: KENRIC ENDED UP IN TAMPA, WHERE HIS MOM SAYS HE ENROLLED AT U-T.
HE LIVED WITH TWO FRIENDS AND WAS KNOWN TO KEEP TO HIMSELF.
HOMICIDE DETECTIVE KEVIN RETTEW HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING THIS CASE.
Detective: “they said he was just kind of a quiet person, smart person, spent most of his time on his computer, on social media sites, and couldn’t figure out a reason why he would be targeted.”
Natalia Verdina, Host: ON APRIL 23, 2010… KENRIC’S LIFE WAS TAKEN VIOLENTLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY.
ONE OF HIS ROOMMATES RETURNED FROM A NIGHTCLUB WITH A FEW FRIENDS TO THEIR HOME ON THE 5900 BLOCK OF OAK RIVER DRIVE IN TOWN ’N’ COUNTRY.
MINUTES LATER, CONFUSION AND CHAOS ERUPTED.
Detective: “all of a sudden as soon as they get back from the nightclub there are at least three to five masked individuals who forced their way into the apartment and immediately start shooting at the victim and ultimately he suffered several gunshot wounds and passed away”
Natalia Verdina, Host: WHY KENRIC?
THE QUESTION HAUNTS HIS FAMILY.
Mom: “because I just couldn’t get my head around the fact because he was not violent type , he spent most of his time, if he could help, he would do that”
Natalia Verdina, Host: IT’S UNCLEAR WHETHER KENRIC’S ROOMMATES AND FRIENDS WERE FOLLOWED FROM THE NIGHTCLUB…
OR IF THE TIMING WAS COINCIDENTAL.
Natalia: “do you believe that these victims, these masked people, were targeting this specific victim, Kenric May?”
Detective: “it certainly seems like that after looking at the facts of everything there wasn’t any evidence that they were trying to rob them because they weren’t demanding anything”
Natalia Verdina, Host: SURROUNDED BY NEIGHBORS,
AND THREE TO FIVE POSSIBLE SUSPECTS WHO HAVE LIKELY SPOKEN OF THE CRIME SINCE THEN,
DETECTIVES FIRMLY BELIEVE SOMEONE HAS INFORMATION THEY NEED TO CRACK THIS CASE.
Natalia: “what has made this case so difficult to solve?
Detective: “the lack of physical evidence, the lack of witnesses who actually saw what happened, as well as the suspects wearing masks and being covered almost from head to toe”
Natalia Verdina, Host: KENRIC’S FAMILY HAS HAD TO LIVE WITH A PAINFUL VOID.
WHAT COULD OF BEEN OF HIS LIFE, IS HIS MOTHER’S DEEPEST SORROW.
Mom: “taken away, and that’s the thing about murder, killing, anybody taking anybody’s life, you take the essence of who they are, everything that comes after in their lives, he never had children so they took, that’s how I think about it, it takes whatever my grandchildren, what was supposed to be, they took that, they took his aspirations or whatever he was doing or planned to do for the rest of his life, they wiped that out in a matter of a few seconds”
KENRIC’S FATHER PASSED AWAY NOT KNOWING WHO PULLED THE TRIGGER ON HIS SON… OR WHY.
16:00 - 16:07
Mom: “he was always hoping that they’d find out who did it”
DESPITE THE PAIN, MRS. MAY HAS FOUND STRENGTH TO FORGIVE.
17:25 - 17:40
Mom: “I have forgiven them, but you know, we still need closure as you said, and to know what happened and what was the motivation”
THE MAY’S DESERVE ANSWERS AND JUSTICE.
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON THIS CASE … OR ANY CASES INVESTIGATED BY THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE… PLEASE CALL HCSO AT 813 247 8200.
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