Daughter of murdered Johns Island woman said accused killer was mother’s boyfriend

The 911 call made by one of the daughters of 37-year-old Melinda Ford, who was shot and killed on Saturday, reveals that the man suspected in the killing was Ford’s boyfriend.

According to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, James Timothy Wright, 34, is accused of shooting Ford at her home on Betsy Kerrison Parkway on Johns Island before turning the gun on himself and leading deputies on a chase.

Deputies said they caught up to Wright after he crashed through a gate. He is hospitalized for the self-inflicted gunshot wound he received but has been charged with murder.

The 911 call was released today. A woman who said her mother was shot told the operator: “Her boyfriend shot her.”

“He shot my momma,” stated the woman, who did not identify herself by name on the call. Chrisshon Ford, Melinda’s oldest daughter, told The Post and Courier her younger sister, 15-year-old Kadasha Jenkins, is the one who made the call. Chrisshon Ford said Jenkins was home at the time of the shooting.

At one point during the recorded call, voices are heard in the background as the caller waited for police and an ambulance. One man’s voice can be heard saying, “He shot himself, too. He shot her then he shot himself.”

Chrisshon Ford, 19, said her mother and Wright had been dating for about nine months and she had never even seen them argue. “It was a complete shock. It still is a complete shock,” Ford said.

Chrisshon Ford said she will be at every hearing, including Wright’s bond hearing that will be scheduled once he’s released from the hospital. Ford said she wants to know why it happened, an answer she has yet to figure out.

“Nobody knows except her and him,” she said.

Read more in upcoming editions of The Post and Courier.

Reach Natalie Caula at 937-5594 or Twitter.com/ncaula.