Dennis Kirby Kendrick, 54, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of April 20, 2022, outside his home at the Abbey Ridge Apartment Homes in Oxford, Michigan. A U.S. Army veteran and cancer survivor, Kendrick worked the morning shift at American Axle in Auburn Hills so he could be home for his 15-year-old son, Kamari. Family described him as a devoted father.

At about 3:30 a.m. Kendrick was sitting in his car in the apartment parking lot, preparing to leave for work, when a neighbor, 36-year-old Marcus Anthony Nathan, confronted him. Nathan, who did not know Kendrick, had been wandering the complex looking for the sender of a threatening text he believed he had received and mistakenly concluded Kendrick was responsible. Nathan shot Kendrick multiple times at close range with a 9mm handgun; six spent shell casings were recovered. Nathan later called 911 and was arrested on charges of open murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and held without bond.

The killing left Kendrick’s family and community grieving. If anyone knew Dennis, his routines, or saw activity around the Abbey Ridge complex that morning, please come forward with information.