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Left: Kenneth Farler III (Montgomery County Jail). Right: Kendra Farler (Schlientz & Moore Funeral Home).
An Ohio man who fatally shot his 15-year-old daughter and then tried to pin it on his nonverbal stepson with autism has pleaded guilty.
Court records show 39-year-old Kenneth Paul Farler III pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, endangering children and a slew of other firearm-related charges based on past felony convictions. He’s slated to be sentenced on May 14.
Dayton police responded on the afternoon of April 14, 2024, to a shooting inside in an apartment on the 400 block of Bowen Street. When first responders arrived, they found 15-year-old Kendra Farler suffering from a shotgun wound to the chest.
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In a 911 call obtained by Dayton CBS affiliate WHIO, Farler allegedly told a dispatcher his stepson accidentally fired the gun.
“My stepson, he’s autistic, he had no, it was an accident ma’am,” he allegedly said on the call. “He’s autistic,” he reportedly added, saying the boy had no “idea what he was doing.”
Dayton police Maj. Brian Johns told the Dayton Daily News that after further investigation and interviews, the claims made by Farler on the initial 911 call were determined to be false.
“The young lady was shot and killed by her father inside the Bowen Street address,” Johns told the outlet. “To say it was a tragedy is an understatement.”
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Johns made it clear that investigators believe the shooting was intentional.
“I would say it’s not an accident,” he added. “Our victim was asking him to not point the shotgun at her prior to her death. That’s not an accident.”
In another 911 call, a bystander reportedly told a dispatcher he was in his car when he heard a gunshot and heard, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”
“She’s a kid,” the caller said. “I just heard a gunshot and heard them scream.”
Nancy Ledbetter, a neighbor, told WHIO she was shocked when she heard the gunfire.
“I kind of was, you know, wondering what was going on, so I started to walk over there, and right across the street at the corner, there was a lady, and I asked her, ‘Do you happen to know what’s going on?’ She says my granddaughter was shot,” Ledbetter told the station.
The Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office indicted Farler about a week after the fatal incident. Prosecuting attorney Mat Heck noted that Farler had been convicted of trafficking in cocaine less than a month before the shooting.
“He has been arrested approximately 40 times over the past 20 years and has previously been sentenced to the penitentiary,” Heck said at the time of the indictment. “This defendant should never be allowed anywhere near a firearm and deserves to be in prison. A completely innocent 15-year-old girl has lost her life at the hands of her father.”
Kendra’s family called her “our shining little star” in her obituary.
“Kendra was the heart and soul of our family, embodying a spirit full of joy, curiosity, and creativity,” the obituary reads. “As a student, she was not just a learner, but a tiny professor, always eager to share her newfound knowledge and discoveries. Her laughter was infectious, her energy boundless, and her kindness a beacon of warmth to everyone around her.”
