‘She was my baby’: Mom of Fresno woman killed in Los Angeles
FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE) – A young woman from Fresno was gunned down on the streets of Los Angeles. Her family says she was caught up in human trafficking, the very crime her mother is working to stamp out.
Kendra McIntyre, 20, was shot and killed on March 21 around 4 a.m. in Los Angeles, according to YourCentralValley.com’s sister station KTLA. The loss is especially difficult for her mother, Debra Rush, who knows the pain of walking those city streets.
“In 1999, I was lured out by a gang member because of a drug debt that was owed by my mother, and I was violently trafficked in southern California specifically, Los Angeles, for several months,” said Debra. “I was able to find my way out of that situation and find my way back here largely in part because of a Fresno police officer and that should’ve been the end of the story.”
But it wasn’t.
“A few years later, I would start to emotionally devolve very, very quickly. That devolving would lead me to drug use, and that drug use would lead me back out onto the streets where I would spend four more years stuck in the sex trade,” said Debra.
“In 2008, I found my way out through the justice system. I had committed a pretty serious felony, and I was facing a pretty serious prison sentence. All I can say is by the grace of God, I was given a second chance by a judge here in Fresno. I was given the opportunity to restart my life.”
A life filled with family. She and her husband have been raising seven kids, and recently their first grandchild.
Rush went on to co-found Breaking the Chains, a non-profit in Fresno focused on providing healing and hope to human trafficking survivors. Debra’s work is inspired and motivated by her own pain.
But the heartache and trauma Debra hoped she left behind on the streets came back to haunt her.
“Kendra was an absolutely incredible human being. Fiercely loyal, incredibly artistic. Her zest for life was infectious. It really was. When she was around it would turn the whole room upside down in the best way.”
Debra’s daughter Kendra was the victim of a dangerous attack at the hands of someone she trusted when she was 16 years old.
“Kendra met a guy online and invited him to our house not knowing he had the most nefarious intents, and he brought another young man with him. Kendra was home alone during a very violent in-home robbery. The best way I can describe it, from that point, it was like a fastball that we couldn’t get in front of.”
Debra says her daughter, already diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was never the same after that day. The attack complicated her mental illness and if the attack was not cruel enough, Debra says after testifying at the preliminary hearing to get justice, Kendra was attacked again and again.
“Kendra didn’t feel safe in her own mind, in her own home, and now she wasn’t even safe in her own community,” said Debra. “She started turning to all the wrong things, all the wrong places, all the wrong people to try to find safety, try to find solace, try to find a sense of calm in her storm. Ultimately, we believe, this is what led Kendra to Los Angeles and what ultimately took her life.”
Kendra was shot and killed in a dangerous area in a dangerous area that police say has a long history of human trafficking. She would become the second person killed there that week.
“Our hope, every one of us, is that Kendra’s life will make an impact and no other family will have to sit through the tragedy that we’re sitting through.”
Debra advises anyone who could be in this situation to ask for help.
“My advice to anybody wanting to get out, number one, just reach out. Call Breaking the Chains, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline, (888-373-7888) make that phone call, believe there is help out there. There are people ready and waiting to help you to your feet.”
Debra describes Kendra as someone loyal and loving – and her baby.
“Despite the challenges that she had in life, and the issues that were outside her control, she was an absolutely beautiful soul and we know her life, her love, her legacy will live on.”
