John Jefferson
Background: Kayden Lynch (left) and Madison Daly (GoFundMe). Inset: Jalen Dashawn Holmes (Lee County Sheriff’s Office).
Two Alabama teenagers who were also stepsisters were found shot dead in their home — and their 18-year-old neighbor was charged with the double murder.
Kayden Lynch, 19, and Madison Daly, 18, were found unresponsive in their Beulah home on Dec. 24, both with gunshot wounds. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Also at the scene when Lee County deputies arrived was 18-year-old Jalen Dashawn Holmes. He was taken into custody that night and has remained at the Lee County Jail since.
Lynch and Daly were stepsisters and roommates, and Daly was the mother of a toddler. It is not clear if the baby was in the house at the time of the shooting. Authorities knew of 9-year-old twin girls who were in the house prior to the shooting but left before the incident took place, Mobile CBS affiliate WKRG reported. Their relationship with the victims was not made clear.
The shooting took place during the afternoon of Dec. 24, and 911 calls reporting the sound of gunfire in the neighborhood came in at 3:48 p.m. Authorities said that Holmes, who was a neighbor of the two girls, reportedly assaulted his own mother at their home before heading next door to the home of Lynch and Daly. He had a handgun with him.
A friend of both girls, Anna Miller, told local news site AL.com that Lynch knew the suspect, adding that “She was in love with him. This was the last thing we had ever expected for him to do.”
A GoFundMe page was set up by a member of Daly’s family to help cover funeral costs for the two victims. The relative wrote, “If you feel it in your heart to donate, I deeply appreciate the help in this nightmarish time.” The campaign has raised more than $4,800, almost reaching its $5,000 goal.
Holmes was charged with capital murder of two or more victims. The investigation into the deaths of Lynch and Daly is still active.
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