Yolanda Jones

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

While Jasper Moten flipped through pictures of his two daughters, he fought back tears as he stared at the young women he said were "smart and giving."

"They always did well in school and were my babies," said Moten outside of his Southeast Memphis home. "Why did they have to be taken like this?"

Thursday morning, Kendall Brown, 27, and her younger sister, Kayla Brown, 19, were shot and killed outside of Kendall's Hickory Hill home in the 3800 block of Shallow Wood Court and Pathway Circle, off Clarke Road.

An hour later, Kendall Brown's husband turned himself in to police at Crump Station precinct.

Memphis police Maj. Rodney Adair said no charges have been filed yet in the fatal shooting.

"Two female victims were found shot outside the home," said Adair said. "Five children were in the home but they were unharmed and are with family members."

Moten said his daughter Kendall moved into the home about six months ago with her husband and their children. He said Kayla lived nearby with her mother.

Moten said his daughters were two of his 10 children. He said Kendall Brown wanted to be an attorney and Kayla Brown recently graduated from Overton High School and was attending the University of Memphis.

"They had been together all Wednesday afternoon. They were cooking and cleaning the house," Moten said about his daughters. "I don't know what happened. But I do know that my girls are gone."

As investigators worked the crime scene, they went in and out of the home's front door where the glass had been shattered.

Neighbors, who did not want to be identified, said they were awakened by gunshots.

Family and friends on the scene hugged and cried together near the beige-colored brick home.

"This is awful," said Cobrina Moten, the cousin of the victims. "We've lost so many family members in the month of April over the years. It seems like April is a cursed month for our family."

This is the second fatal domestic violence shooting that Memphis police have investigated in the last week . On April 5, Mario Scales was charged with shooting and killing his wife, Lisa Peoples outside a Fox Meadows home.