A Perfect Storm: Family Ripped Apart By Violent Tragedy

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On September 29, 2024 – four days before Brandon Barnes, Victoria Tippett and Kendall Mims were arrested in connection with the murder of 20-year-old Jessica Barnes – Hurricane Helene ravaged South Carolina’s Upstate. The widespread damage the storm left in its wake was unprecedented – large trees laid across the roadways, widespread power outages lasted for days and dozens were left dead.

For Marcus and Teresa Mims – the parents of 20-year-old Kendall Mims – the damage Brandon Barnes did to their family was not dissimilar to the havoc wrought by this natural disaster. In their eyes, the young man who was charged alongside their daughter left a cyclone-like trail of devastation which included victims across multiple states.

Marcus and Teresa – along with Kendall’s grandfather, Ron – sat down with FITSNews to discuss the charges recently filed against their daughter for her alleged role in this saga. Marcus, a North Carolina pastor, and his wife – a nurse – are still reeling from the shocking revelations, finding themselves in a heartbreaking position they couldn’t have previously imagined possible.

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THE NEW BOY

Kendall Mims’ family is exceptionally tight-knit. She and her twin brother are exceedingly close – having been brought even closer together by the fact they are surviving triplets whose brother died shortly after birth.

Kendall had dreams of becoming a biomedical engineer so she could help design prosthetics for wounded veterans. Her mom smiled remembering how she and her brother would go to the local retirement home to play chess and checkers with the residents for fun. Her dad recalled with a chuckle how when she played youth soccer, his petite but scrappy daughter wanted to play on a co-ed team. Though quiet and reserved, Kendall liked challenging herself – graduating high school cum laude and earned a scholarship to college.

In January of 2023, Kendall was attending college on her scholarship and working. She was maintaining a 3.8 GPA – successfully balancing academics, employment and a social life – when she mentioned to her parents that she had met a boy online. Her parents, who had always been admittedly protective, were immediately concerned. Teresa was shocked because they had warned her of the dangers inherent in meeting people online, but Kendall insisted this was different and said she wanted to go to a Super Bowl party at his house.

“Absolutely not,” her parents responded.

They had never met this boy and didn’t want their only daughter going to his house.

Before they knew it, they were FaceTiming with Brandon Barnes and a woman named Cookie who appeared to be his mother. Both assured them Kendall would be safe – that it was a family party. So they relented… but Teresa told her daughter not to give this boy her address. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she had a bad feeling that wouldn’t go away.

Kendall made it home from the party safely, but shortly thereafter gifts started arriving at their home from this new boy. Teresa knew Kendall had given him their address. She described Brandon Barnes’ behavior in the days after the party as “love bombing” – and it made her very uncomfortable.

In the month that followed the Super Bowl party, Marcus and Teresa watched Barnes push his way into their daughter’s life to the point they both became extremely concerned. Terese noted one night when she went into her daughter’s room to give her a kiss and say good night, the voice that responded wasn’t Kendall’s – it was Brandon, who was on FaceTime watching her daughter sleep.

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The Mims’ had rules for their children – one of which was that they paid for their phones and cars but had to provide the passcodes necessary to access their phones. It wasn’t something they’d ever had to use – at least not before Barnes inserted himself into their lives. When they did decide to take a look at their daughter’s phone, they realized the passcode had been changed.

Kendall balked at giving them the new passcode, but they said if she didn’t – they would take her phone and car away. Those, after all, were the rules.

The Mims sat Kendall down and told her how concerned they were… that they believed Brandon Barnes was dangerous. Kendall eventually relented – giving her mom the new passcode for the phone. When Teresa went through the device later that night, she said it appeared as though Barnes had hatched a plot to take off with her daughter.

Deeply concerned, Teresa began formulating a plan to protect Kendall.

“I thought I had time, if that makes sense,” Teresa said.

After all, the two had just met a couple of weeks earlier. Unbeknownst to Teresa and Marcus Mims, though, time was not on their side. As the parents’ concerns mounted, Cookie – the motherly figure who previously assured them Brandon Barnes was a good and trustworthy person – suddenly changed her tune.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Cookie wrote in a message to the family. “I can’t lie to you anymore. You know, you seem like a really good family, and she’s such a sweet girl, and I just, I can’t do this again.”

Marcus and Teresa told Kendall – who was in North Carolina at the time – to come home immediately, but she insisted the tires on her brand new car were flat. Accordingly, the nervous parents resolved to meet their daughter at a gas station the following day to make sure she was okay. Kendall had classes the next morning – so they thought she would be back home after that.

Finally, they thought, the situation could be brought back under control.

They thought wrong…

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MISSING IN GEORGIA

On Monday, February 27, 2023, one of Kendall’s friends called campus police after she failed to show up for class – which was out of character for the studious 19-year-old. Her friend had previously agreed to switch phones with Kendall so the Life360 tracking device her parents used to keep tabs on her whereabouts would give them the false impression that she was at school.

When the Life360 location on the phone Kendall was using suddenly disappeared, her friend panicked.

Marcus and Teresa told campus police about their daughter’s relationship with Barnes – and about their concern for her safety. Because Kendall was over the age of eighteen, though, police said there wasn’t much they could do. Teresa refused to let up, telling authorities it wasn’t like her daughter to run off – adding that Kendall didn’t pack anything when she left, not even a bra or underwear.

Police called the phone in Kendall’s possession until Barnes finally answered. According to Teresa, investigators didn’t like what they heard during the ensuing conversation – so they began looking at Barnes more closely.

That’s when they learned about Barnes’ prior conviction in Maine related to his assault on ex-girlfriend Kathrine Gumm – and the restraining order she had been granted for her protection.

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Still, investigators faced a hurdle. Kendall was an adult – and there was no indication she hadn’t left voluntarily. At this point, Teresa told police that the car was registered in her name and the two hadn’t received permission to take it. The car was technically stolen – which meant they were able to put out an alert for both the vehicle and Kendall.

After the pair were located in southern Georgia, Marcus and Teresa immediately drove to retrieve their daughter.

Upon arriving, the Mims found the couple living in a dilapidated old camper – one with a roof riddled with so many holes it needed a tarp. The “dwelling,” such as it was, had no running water or electricity. Despite pleading with their daughter to come home with them, Kendall said she wanted to stay.

Practicing tough love, they left with Kendall’s car – a difficult decision seeing as the nearest store was thirty miles away and the pair would have no means of easily obtaining food and water. During the weeks that followed, Teresa was able to speak to her daughter occasionally – but noticed that each time, Kendall sounded less and less like herself. Once bright and full of energy, Kendall now sounded increasingly tired and lethargic.

“She was sleeping all the time, and that was just odd for her not having to get up and study or go to school and do work,” Teresa said. “I mean, that was just not normal.”

Teresa kept asking her daughter if she had been drugged, but Kendall repeatedly denied it.

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RELATED | BRANDON BARNES’ EX-GIRLFRIEND DETAILS HORRIFIC ABUSE

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When asked if it was possible Barnes had drugged her with Benadryl – as he allegedly did to Katherine Gumm, according to her interview with FITSNews, Teresa looked stunned.

“That would make sense,” she said.

Concerned their daughter wouldn’t be able to escape if she did decide to leave Barnes, eventually the Mims purchased a used Buick and left it with the couple. They were getting smarter though: This time they placed a tracker in the car so they would know where their daughter was if there was a sudden change in living arrangements.

Several weeks later, Barnes decided to allow Kendall to come home for Easter. Her parents picked her up on Saturday with plans to drive her back on Sunday after church.

While Kendall was back home with her family in North Carolina, she acted oddly. She refused to eat or drink water because she didn’t want to get used to it. She sat on the floor – afraid the comfort of the couch would make her yearn for home again. She also refused to shower because she had finally become accustomed to taking cold showers in Georgia. Before they could take their daughter to church on Sunday, though, Brandon arrived in the middle of the night and took her back to Georgia in the used Buick.

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‘I HAD TO GET HER OUT OF THAT HELL HOLE…’

Kendall was always exceptionally close to her maternal grandfather, Ron Herrin of Pendleton, S.C. For some reason, Barnes allowed her to speak fairly regularly with Herrin – who was every bit as worried for her safety as Teresa and Marcus. According to Herrin, he was constantly thinking of ways to get Kendall closer to home – where her family could keep a closer eye on her. In May of 2023, he offered to let the couple live in a small pool house located behind his home at 102 Laurel Drive.

“I had to get her out of that hell hole, you know, I needed to know she was safe,” he said.

The pool had been filled in years ago, but the adjoining house was still in decent shape. Herrin told Kendall to give him a couple of days to get it cleaned out; however, the pair arrived in the middle of the night before he had a chance to get his stuff out for them.

Marcus and Teresa were hopeful their daughter would return to college – perhaps attending the technical school in Anderson so her credits could transfer to nearby Clemson University. But Barnes reportedly refused to allow Kendall to attend classes in person.

In June or July, Teresa said Barnes kept texting them about pregnancy tests, but she ignored him “because he was always sending crap to us that was stupid.”

When he sent an ultrasound picture, though, she realized something was going on – and shortly thereafter discovered Kendall was pregnant. Teresa told her daughter not to marry him, knowing that would complicate things when the relationship eventually went south. Days later, Barnes called Marcus and asked for his permission to marry Kendall.

“Absolutely not,” the fed-up father replied.

The two never followed through with the marriage.

***

Around the same time Kendall became pregnant, Jessica Barnes entered the picture. Confused about this new young woman living with her daughter, Teresa tried to figure out who she was – and why she was there. Jessica was escaping an abusive home life, she was told by all three. But when Teresa suggested they report the abuse to the police, they quickly changed the subject.

“I guess Jessica must have been pregnant around that time too,” Teresa said.

Shortly before Christmas last year, Teresa took her daughter shopping. When they got to the store, Jessica and Brandon showed up. Looking at Jessica, she immediately noticed her baby bump.

“Are you pregnant with Brandon’s child too?” she asked.

All three denied it, but Jessica eventually told her the truth. Ever the concerned mother and nurse, Teresa said she tried to talk to Jessica about prenatal and postpartum care – and gave her the same advice she gave her daughter: to not give the baby Barnes’ last name.

Kendall’s baby was due in March of 2024. According to Teresa, Barnes refused to allow her to take any parenting classes before or after the birth. The young mother-to-be was nervous and desperately wanted her mother with her in the delivery room, but Barnes banned both Teresa and Marcus from being there. Teresa contacted a friend who was a nurse at the hospital, explained the situation to her, and asked her to check on her daughter.

“There’s another girl there, and she is also pregnant, and the staff needs to know something is up with this dude,” Teresa told her friend.

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RELATED | STRANGLED VOICES

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According to Teresa, when they were finally allowed to see their new granddaughter, Barnes proudly told them Kendall was not allowed to make noise while giving birth. Barnes also reportedly put stipulations on their visit, telling the grandparents they were not allowed to touch the baby. When they asked if they could give Kendall and the newborn a welcome home party, Barnes reportedly refused. Eventually, the Mims got a family friend to offer to host a party – which Barnes accepted.

Balloons and a ‘Welcome Home’ banner awaited the new mother.

“Kendall was so happy,” Teresa said. “She didn’t think she was going to get anything.”

As soon as they left, though, they watched on a security camera as Barnes violently tore down all the decorations they had so lovingly put up.

Four weeks after the baby was born, Kendall told her mother she was returning to work. Concerned she was trying to start working again so soon, Teresa asked her daughter if the doctor had cleared her medically to return to work.

“No,” Kendall replied.

“Then you can’t go back to work,” Teresa said.

“I know, but somebody’s got to make the money, and somebody’s got to take care of, you know, bills and (the baby) and all,” her daughter replied.

The month after Kendall’s baby was born, Jessica Barnes gave birth to a stillborn son. When authorities began investigating what caused the baby’s death, Jessica reached out to Teresa for advice. When Barnes found out about this, he promptly put a stop to the conversation.

“He did not want them talking to me about any of this,” Teresa recalled.

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LIFE IN THE POOL HOUSE

The circumstances in the small pool house were decidedly grim. Kendall – who was already petite – was losing weight rapidly. When she was arrested on October 2, 2024, she weighed less than 100 pounds. The stress of the situation had taken its toll on her, both mentally and physically.

Herrin remembered walking outside his house one day and overhearing Barnes screaming at his granddaughter. His eyes welled up with tears as he shakily recalled marching over to the small building and telling Brandon, “You don’t talk to my granddaughter like that.”

The next day as Barnes was walking to his car, he pointed at the kind older man who was allowing him to live rent free in his pool house and with pure hatred in his eyes said, “You’re lucky you’re alive.”

That was not the first or last threat allegedly made by Brandon Barnes…

Teresa said when Kendall and Brandon came from Georgia to South Carolina, they brought a couple of cats with them. As cats often do when they are not fixed, they soon multiplied. According to Teresa, these cats “started mysteriously disappearing.” When she asked about one cat, Brandon told her he might have “accidentally stepped on one of them in the middle of the night and they might have died.” She was told another cat died when a hair tie got stuck around its neck and another when it got caught between the couch cushions.

The animal issues didn’t end with the cats. Barnes also kept two large dogs chained to a tree in the yard. No one was allowed to provide the dogs with food or water – nor were they permitted to walk them. As an animal lover, Kendall told her mom she was constantly concerned about the dogs – so the Mims family adopted one, giving it a loving home. They also ensured the other dog was adopted into a home where it would be properly cared for and loved.

Herrin recalled several occasions when Kendall would walk over from the pool house to his home to do laundry. On those visits, he always encouraged her to stay – hoping she would open up to him. Those hopes were dashed, however, when he realized Barnes allegedly made her bring her cell phone with her – dialed to his number the entire time, with headphones hanging around her neck so he could ostensibly monitor what she was saying. With Barnes listening in, Kendall had no way to safely ask for help.

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Barnes worked periodically at various jobs at fast food restaurants locally, but according to Kendall’s family he required her to sit in the restaurant throughout his entire shift so he could watch her – both while she was pregnant and after she had the baby. The control he exhibited over her gave her little opportunity to escape.

Herrin – whom many refer to as a super hero in this story – continued to put trackers on vehicles driven by Barnes. When he sold the Buick the Mims had purchased, Ron snuck another tracker onto the new vehicle Barnes brought home. These trackers became key evidence as police investigated Jessica Barnes’ disappearance – eventually leading them to her remains in Pickens County.

As for Victoria Tippett – the third resident of the pool house (and the other woman charged in connection with Jessica Barnes’ murder) – her appearance on the scene remains a mystery to Kendall’s family. But, they say, it was a catalyst as this saga hurtled toward its tragic end.

Not long after Tippett’s arrival at the pool house, Jessica Barnes had gotten angry and returned home. Shortly thereafter, on July 31, 2024, she was transported by ambulance to a local facility for a mental health evaluation.

Two days later, police say Barnes murdered her. When the Mims learned of Jessica’s disappearance, they hoped the young woman had finally had enough and left. Teresa recalled Jessica being the more outspoken of the two girls – and assumed she simply became fed up with the life she was living with Brandon Barnes.

The truth about Jessica’s murder – and the effort to dispose of her remains – is something they never could have imagined. As for the truth about the involvement of their daughter in the aftermath of Jessica’s death, that is something they hope will come to light as more information becomes available. Not because they aren’t willing to accept it, but because they know their daughter’s heart – and they now know just how bad the situation was for all of Barnes’ alleged victims.

In the midst of their grief, concern and sorrow for their daughter, Marcus and Teresa Mims know how lucky they are. Even though their daughter is in jail – and facing serious criminal charges – unlike Jessica, she is alive. Their hearts ache for Jessica’s family – and for the unimaginable pain they are suffering.

“She’s safer in jail than she’s been since she met Brandon,” Marcus said.

Marcus and Teresa also noted that for the first time since she met Brandon Barnes, Kendall is starting to once again physically look like the daughter they thought they lost.

While in jail, Kendall has faced some serious medical issues. According to Teresa, her daughter began losing the feeling on the right side of her body – with her hand and her foot experiencing constant numbness. The medical staff told Teresa it was likely stress-related, but as Kendall began opening up about her life with Brandon Barnes, a potentially more serious cause of the bizarre symptoms began to come to light. Like Jessica Barnes and Kathrine Gumm, Kendall was allegedly the victim of repeated strangulations at the hands of Brandon Barnes.

When medical staffers at the jail examined the otherwise healthy 20-year-old, they noted a narrowing of the artery in her neck – a potentially life-threatening strangulation complication that could eventually result in a stroke if untreated. The jail put in a referral to a neurologist – but told Teresa it could be up to 60 days before her daughter is seen.

A preliminary hearing in Mims’ case has been scheduled for next Monday (December 9, 2024). Count on FITSNews to provide coverage of that hearing – and continuing coverage of this tragic tale.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Jenn Wood is FITSNews’ incomparable research director. She’s also the producer of the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts and leading expert on all things Murdaugh/ South Carolina justice. A former private investigator with a criminal justice degree, evildoers beware, Jenn Wood is far from your average journalist! A deep dive researcher with a passion for truth and a heart for victims, this mom of two is pretty much a superhero in FITSNews country. Did we mention she’s married to a rocket scientist? (Lucky guy!) Got a story idea or a tip for Jenn? Email her at jenn@fitsnews.com.

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