A jury convicted Jeffery Kendall of murder and child endangerment after Brittany Ligdis was killed with their son in the room.
MARTINEZ, Calif. — The 50-years-to-life sentence imposed on Jeffery Kendall did more than punish the murder of Brittany Elizabeth Ligdis. It also reflected a second crime recognized by the jury: endangering the couple’s 4-year-old son, who was in a laundry room with his mother when Kendall entered and killed her in February 2024.
That child-centered part of the case remained visible through the final sentencing order. Judge Glenn Kim not only imposed two consecutive terms of 25 years to life on July 31, 2026, but also barred Kendall from contacting his son until November 2035, when the boy turns 16, except in limited circumstances approved by a court. The restriction followed Kendall’s May 7 convictions for first-degree murder and child endangerment and a separate judicial finding that he possessed an assault weapon.
The criminal case began with a breakup. Prosecutors said Ligdis, 30, ended her relationship with Kendall 10 days before she was killed. Friends later told KTVU that she had been uneasy about his behavior afterward. Kassandra Santiago, a friend who studied with Ligdis, said Ligdis described the situation as difficult and called Kendall unpredictable. Those comments did not decide the criminal case, but they became part of the public record about the days leading up to the shooting.
On the morning of Feb. 16, 2024, Ligdis called 911 after Kendall broke into her Pinole home, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. She told dispatchers she was hiding in a laundry room with the couple’s young son. About 90 seconds later, prosecutors said, Kendall entered the room. The recording captured Ligdis telling him to let go of her and warning that he was frightening the child. She then yelled for him to stop before Kendall shot her in the head.
The boy’s reaction was also captured. Prosecutors said he cried out for his mother and then fled the room. Responding officers found Ligdis dead. Family members later said the child had not been physically hurt, but they described the emotional aftermath in stark terms. Ligdis’ aunt Nancy O’Neil told KTVU in 2024 that the boy repeatedly said his mother was dead. Relatives said he was being cared for by family after the killing. More recent public reporting has not provided detailed information about his condition or daily life.
That distinction between physical injury and exposure to danger mattered in court. Jurors convicted Kendall of child endangerment for placing the boy in circumstances that threatened his safety. The conviction meant the child was not merely treated as a witness to a murder; his presence carried separate legal weight. Prosecutors relied on that fact when asking for a severe sentence, stressing that the killing occurred in front of a preschool-aged child who had been taken into the laundry room as Ligdis sought safety.
Deputy District Attorney Tylyn Wells used unusually blunt language at sentencing, calling the killing an “execution in front of a 4-year-old child.” Wells also argued that the homicide should not be dismissed as a sudden mental break. The district attorney’s office said she placed the case in the context of domestic violence that can intensify after one partner leaves. That was the prosecution’s sentencing argument; the public summary did not provide a full transcript of defense arguments or every factor presented to the court.
Police accounts from the day of the killing show how quickly the investigation moved after officers arrived. Pinole police said surveillance footage captured Kendall leaving the area, helping investigators identify him as a suspect. Authorities circulated information about his Hyundai Elantra. California Highway Patrol officers later located the car and arrested Kendall after a traffic stop. Earlier news reports described the arrest as occurring the same day, turning a search for a homicide suspect into a prosecution that would continue for more than two years.
The gun added another layer to the case. Prosecutors said Kendall possessed a 3D-printed pistol capable of semiautomatic fire. Before the main trial, the defense successfully sought to have the assault-weapon charge heard by the judge rather than the jury. Kim found Kendall guilty on that count and also found six aggravating factors related to it to be true. The district attorney’s public sentencing summary did not list each factor, so their individual details cannot be established from that release alone.
The jury’s first-degree murder verdict arrived May 7, 2026. That verdict established Kendall’s criminal responsibility for Ligdis’ killing after the case had spent more than two years in the court system. The same jury found him guilty of child endangerment. By sentencing, the separate weapons case had also been resolved against him. Kim then ordered two 25-years-to-life terms to run consecutively, creating the 50-years-to-life total announced by prosecutors at the end of July.
The contact restriction involving the son makes the sentence especially significant beyond the prison term. Kendall cannot contact him before the boy turns 16 in November 2035 unless a court permits an exception. Prosecutors did not describe what kind of future request might qualify, and the public record reviewed for this report does not establish whether any such request is expected. The order instead sets a clear default: no contact for years while the child grows up with relatives rather than with either parent present in his daily life.
Ligdis’ family and friends have tried to keep attention on more than the circumstances of her death. She was a student at Diablo Valley College and had been pursuing nursing. Santiago told KTVU that Ligdis was passionate about the field and willing to help other students. Her aunt remembered her warmth and the way her smile could affect a room. Those recollections created a fuller public portrait than the courtroom shorthand of victim, mother and former partner.
In May 2024, Ligdis’ unfinished college path reached a public milestone. At Diablo Valley College’s graduation in Pleasant Hill, her family accepted degrees awarded to her posthumously. The ceremony came only a few months after the killing and long before Kendall’s trial. For classmates and relatives, it marked the educational work she had completed and the career she had been working toward. The later murder conviction and sentence resolved the criminal case, but they did not replace that part of her story.
Seen from the child’s perspective, the case spans several legal stages that adults around him controlled: a 911 call, a police investigation, an arrest, a murder trial, a separate weapons proceeding and sentencing. The boy’s own public identity and later life have largely been kept out of the news, appropriately limiting details about a minor. What remains documented is that his presence changed the case, contributed to a separate conviction and led to a long-term court order governing Kendall’s ability to reach him.
For the couple’s son, the court’s final order reaches years beyond the verdict itself. Kendall may not contact him until November 2035, when the boy turns 16, except under limited circumstances approved by a court. The restriction does not answer how the child will process what happened or what his life with relatives will look like, matters that have largely remained private. It does, however, make his safety and separation from Kendall an explicit part of the judgment alongside the murder and child-endangerment convictions.
Author note: Last updated September 9, 2026.