Florencia Natalya “Flo” Henthorn, a 14-year-old White/Caucasian female from Evansville, Wisconsin, died on April 6, 2025, after suffering a gunshot wound inside a home in the 300 block of South Madison Street. Shortly after 9:00 that Sunday morning, a man at the residence flagged down an Evansville police officer and sought help for the wounded teenager. Police, Rock County sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and emergency medical personnel attempted to save her.
Florencia was transported for emergency medical treatment but later died from her injuries at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison.
The investigation quickly expanded beyond the circumstances of the shooting. Authorities learned that Florencia had been spending time and staying at the South Madison Street residence with Hunter Drefahl and Alyssa Ahrens. According to the criminal investigation and a later account released by the Rock County District Attorney’s Office, Drefahl was inside the home with Florencia when she obtained his loaded firearm and shot herself. Prosecutors said Drefahl did not remain to provide aid; instead, he contacted Ahrens and his mother, removed the gun from the residence and left. He later turned the firearm over to law enforcement.
What detectives discovered while examining the days and weeks leading to Florencia’s death became a major part of the case. Investigators found evidence that Drefahl and Ahrens had engaged in sexual activity with Florencia and had made recordings of the encounters. Authorities recovered videos and messages indicating the recordings had been exchanged electronically. Investigators said Florencia became extremely upset because she believed the videos might be shared or sold. According to the criminal complaint, an argument concerning the recordings occurred only hours before the shooting. The Rock County District Attorney’s Office later said investigators also determined that Drefahl and Ahrens had supplied Florencia with substances including methamphetamine, cocaine, THC and alcohol during the period she was staying with them.
Police arrested Hunter Drefahl and Alyssa Ahrens as the investigation unfolded. Early reports listed allegations that included contributing to the delinquency of a minor causing death, sexual exploitation of a child, second-degree sexual assault of a child, child pornography offenses and child enticement, with Ahrens also facing a drug allegation. The formal prosecution ultimately focused on the sexual abuse, exploitation, pornography and drug-related conduct rather than charging either person with homicide in Florencia’s death. A third person, William Drefahl, was also taken into custody during the investigation, initially in connection with a probation violation; later reporting identified a separate allegation of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Hunter Drefahl eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault of a child and child sexual exploitation. Five child-pornography-possession charges were dismissed as part of the proceedings. Alyssa Ahrens pleaded guilty to child sexual exploitation and delivery of methamphetamine; other allegations, including second-degree sexual assault of a child and child-pornography and methamphetamine-possession charges, were dismissed but considered as part of the case. Their convictions established criminal responsibility for the abuse and exploitation surrounding Florencia during the period before her death, although neither was convicted of killing her.
On March 31, 2026, Rock County Circuit Court Judge Barbara McCrory sentenced both defendants to lengthy prison terms. Drefahl received 18 years in prison followed by 10 years of extended supervision and was ordered to register as a sex offender for life. Ahrens received 15 years in prison followed by eight years of extended supervision. During the sentencing proceedings, prosecutors argued that Drefahl’s sexual abuse, the recording of the abuse, the availability of his loaded firearm and the dispute surrounding the recordings were central circumstances leading up to Florencia’s death. The district attorney expressly acknowledged that Drefahl had not been convicted as Florencia’s murderer while arguing that his conduct bore substantial responsibility for the events surrounding her death.
Behind the criminal investigation was a family grieving a child they knew as “Flo.” Her parents remembered her as smart, kind and fiercely protective of the people she cared about. Her obituary described an adventurous teenager who enjoyed dancing, reading, shopping, spending time with friends and family, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, in which she had won state medals. Friends and relatives remembered her contagious laugh, strong personality and ability to make friends wherever she went. Florencia’s death ultimately exposed not only the circumstances of the fatal shooting but weeks of sexual exploitation and drug exposure that investigators said had preceded it, resulting in convictions and substantial prison sentences for the two adults most directly implicated in that conduct.
