Irondale mother beaten to death with 3 teen daughters nearby

An Irondale mother was beaten to death early this morning with her three teen daughters in nearby rooms.

Family members on the scene identified the victim as 42-year-old Melinda Searight. They say Searight’s boyfriend killed her, went into the girls’ room and said, “I guess I’m going to spend the rest of my life in jail,” and then fled Searight’s Meadows Drive home.

“She was a beautiful, smart, intelligent girl,” said her mother, Doris Doss.

Late this afternoon, Irondale authorities identified the suspect as Anthony Lanier Kelly, 36. He surrendered to law enforcement officers this evening at the county jail and was then turned over to Irondale police. Authorities said Kelly is expected to be formally charged with murder Saturday morning.

Irondale police were dispatched to the apartment complex after 6 a.m. Friday. Authorities on the scene weren’t releasing any details, but Det. Sgt. Michael Mangina said the slaying was domestic-related. “This was not a random act,” he said, “and I don’t believe the public is in any danger.”

This is Irondale’s first homicide this year.

Doss said she received a call from her 15-year-old granddaughter about 6:30 a.m. The 15-year-old and her 13-year-old twin sisters were inside the apartment. “I was at work and she called me screaming,” Doss said. “She said ‘Grandma, she’s bleeding from the head.”

The daughters called 911 and then were taken by neighbors to another apartment. “My oldest granddaughter heard them arguing while she was getting ready for school,” Doss said. “After that, that’s when he came in the room and said, “I guess I’m going to spend the rest of my life in jail.”

Searight was found unresponsive on her bedroom floor, and pronounced dead on the scene. Authorities said she’d been repeatedly struck in the head.

Doss said she has no idea what happened. Searight dated the suspect in 2010 and they had just recently gotten back together. She said she knows the two went out on date Thursday night, but said the suspect wasn’t living with her daughter. “I have never know them to get into a physical altercation,” Doss said.

Police confirmed Doss was hit in the head, but didn’t identify the weapon. Family members said the weapon may have been an object that Searight carried for personal protection. That weapon is a martial-arts-like steel ball wrapped in cording and attached to a chain.

Friends and family gathered at the scene Friday morning, visibly upset and openly weeping. Searight’s body was removed from the second-story apartment about 11:30 a.m., and her Chevrolet SUV towed for evidence.

Her mother said she had not yet grasped the reality of Searight’s death. “She was a people-person,” she said. “Anything she could do for others, she would.”