PASADENA, Texas — Pasadena grandparents Jeff and Brenda McKinney thought they were done raising kids years ago, but when their daughter, Brittney Cockrell, and her partner, Michael Hayter were killed in a shooting in Maine, they knew that was about to change.
"They are strong, amazingly," Jeff said, talking about his grandchildren they are now raising. "We're all just trying to hold each other up."
Mason is 11 and Mattie Bell is 7. They're the couple's two youngest children and were sitting in the backseat of the family's car when Brittney and Michael were shot to death.
"He got his little sister's head and told her to duck and her grabbed her head and held it down," Brenda said. "That probably saved their lives."
The family had just moved from Houston to Westbrook, Maine -- six months before the shooting -- for Michael's job.
"It was so safe and beautiful up here, that's what she told me," Brenda said.
Around 8:30 p.m. on June 19, the family was parked in an area filled with restaurants and stores.
"It's something you would expect to see in a Norman Rockwell painting," Jeff said.
That's when Maine state police said Marcel Lagrange Jr. walked up to the family's car in what appears to be a random shooting.
“It was unprovoked," Jeff said. "He just came up and opened fire."
Lagrange is now charged with two counts of murder. According to state records, the 24-year-old has been in and out of jail since 2018.
"Obviously we want to know how somebody could be free to roam the streets after demonstrating the ability to be a threat," Jeff said.
The accused gunman has been convicted of everything from assault to terrorizing to even violating the conditions of his release.
"Our family would still be intact had they not dropped the ball," Brenda said.
Brittney and Michael's picture still rests, smiling back at them, on their fridge.
Now, Jeff and Brenda are focused on comforting the couple's children.
"This is our job," Jeff said. "We are taking care of them."
"Grateful to have brought these kids home. We just need your prayers," Brenda said.
The two said they plan to return to Maine for future court hearings.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up to support the family.