Report: Mother Died Protecting Son in Orlando Massacre

Wednesday June 15, 2016

A mother-of-11 was among the 49 who died in the Orlando massacre Sunday, the New York Daily reports.

Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49, who was a regular at the gay nightclub Pulse, reportedly died protecting her out son Isaiah Henderson, 21.

McCool and Henderson took cover when Omar Mateen opened fire at the club early Sunday morning. Mateen eventually crossed the mother and son but McCool, a two time cancer survivor, acted as a human shield to protect her son.

"Brenda saw him point the gun. She said, 'Get down,' to Isaiah and she got in front of him," McCool's sister-in-law Ada Pressley told the NYDN. "She was shot dead. That's how much she loved her kids. If it weren't for her, he'd of been shot."

During the incident, Henderson lost sight of his mother but was soon rescued by police. When he was outside Pulse, he frantically looked for his mother. But on Monday, he was informed McCool was one of the victims murdered by the shooter.

Henderson later took to Facebook to remember his mom, according to the NYDN.

"Just laying here thinking that I was just with my mom 24 hours ago, this is so surreal," Henderson wrote. "I love you mom."

McCool, a native of Brooklyn, New York, moved to California and recently to Orlando to be with her youngest child, her family told the newspaper.

In an interview with NBC News, Harden's sister, Khalisah Pressley, said he is feeling guilty about his mother's death.

"He had to watch his mother die. He saw everybody getting killed," Pressley told NBC News. "He feels it was his fault."

One of Henderson's sons created a GoFundMePage to support his younger sisters and brothers in the wake of his mother's passing.

"We have confirmation that this wonderful and caring woman known as a mother of 11 children left behind from fighting 2 types of cancer and now to be taken off this earth from what we call 'Insanity," he wrote. "She just went out last night and said goodbye to her children and to be called 3 hours later that she has been hit by 2 gunshots and later pronounced dead."

As of this writing, the fund's goal has reached just over $40,000 of its $50,000 goal. Click here to donate.