- Kendra Farler, 15, was shot in the chest and killed on April 14
- Kenneth Paul Farler III, her father, has been charged in the shooting
- Farler and his wife initially told police that his autistic stepson had shot his daughter
A drug-dealing father with an extensive criminal past has been charged with murdering his teenage daughter and then blaming his autistic stepson for her death.
Kenneth Paul Farler III, 38, was indicted Monday by an Ohio grand jury in connection with the fatal shooting of his 15-year-old daughter Kendra on April 14.
Dayton police were called to the 400 block of Bowen Street around noon, where they found Kendra with a gunshot wound to the chest.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, and Farler told police that his 15-year-old nonverbal, autistic stepson accidentally shot Kendra.
“This defendant should never be near a firearm and deserves to be in prison. A completely innocent 15-year-old girl lost her life at the hands of her father,” said Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck.
Kendra Farler (pictured), 15, was shot and killed on April 14, allegedly by her father who tried to tell police that his autistic stepson shot her
Kenneth Paul Farler III, 38, was charged Monday in connection with the fatal shooting of his 15-year-old daughter
Police were called to the 400 block of Bowen Street around noon, where they found Kendra with a gunshot wound to the chest.
“This suspect was on probation at the time of the shooting and had been convicted of trafficking cocaine less than a month ago. He has been arrested approximately 40 times in the past 20 years and has previously been sentenced to prison.”
Farler was charged on multiple counts, including involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, child endangerment and possession of a weapon while under disability.
He is being held in the Montgomery County Jail and is expected to be arraigned Thursday.
‘To say it was a tragedy is an understatement. I don’t know how I could paint the picture for you, but you have a father who lives in a boarding house that is very small, basically in a room where this murder took place, along with three other children and the mother, ‘Dayton. Major Brian Johns of the police said this at a press conference.
Johns said both the father and Kendra’s stepmother told police she had been shot by the sibling, but those statements turned out to be false.
“We have great investigators here at the Dayton Police Department, and they knew right away that those stories were not consistent. And upon further questioning, I obtained a confession to the crime,” Johns said.
Kendra’s funeral took place on Monday and her family described her as ‘our shining little star who left us too soon’
Farler was on probation at the time of the shooting, having been convicted of trafficking cocaine less than a month earlier. He has been arrested forty times in the past twenty years
“Even our victim asked him not to point a shotgun at her before her death, so that’s not an accident.”
The teen’s stepmother has not been charged and is cooperating with the investigation.
Kendra’s funeral took place on Monday and her family described her as “our shining little star who left us too soon.” obituary.
“Kendra was the heart and soul of our family and embodied a spirit full of joy, curiosity and creativity,” the obituary said.
‘As a student, she was not just a student, but a little professor, who was always eager to share her new knowledge and discoveries. Her laugh was contagious, her energy boundless, and her kindness was a beacon of warmth to everyone around her.”