KaMarion Dolch was a six-year-old boy who would have turned seven just two months after his death. His life was cut short in the early morning hours of June 21, 2024, inside a motel room at the Knights Inn in Plain Township, a suburb of Canton, Ohio.
Stark County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call about a shooting at the motel around 1 a.m. They found KaMarion inside one of the rooms with a gunshot wound to his back.
First responders rushed the child to Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital, but he died from his injury shortly after arriving. Investigators determined that five people were inside the room at the time of the shooting: two adults and three children, including KaMarion. The other two children were placed in the care of Children Services.
According to authorities, the gun discharged while it was in the possession of KaMarion’s biological father, William B. Dolch, 37. A detective later testified that Dolch was trying to move a loaded firearm from a nightstand when it accidentally went off, striking his son. Dolch, who was prohibited from having a gun due to a prior drug trafficking conviction, fled the scene with the weapon before law enforcement arrived. U.S. Marshals arrested him later that afternoon at a house in Canton.
Two other adults who were in the motel room were also arrested. Brittany A. Franko, 29, who was identified as Dolch’s girlfriend, was taken into custody for allegedly giving false information to 911 dispatchers and deputies about what happened. A third individual, Joseph E. King, 33, was charged with tampering with the gun that killed the boy.
William Dolch was initially charged with reckless homicide, endangering children, tampering with evidence, and having weapons under disability. Franko was charged with complicity to commit reckless homicide, child endangering, and obstructing official business. King was charged with tampering with evidence.
In August 2024, a Stark County grand jury returned indictments against all three individuals. The charges against Dolch were upheld, with the addition of a firearm specification to the reckless homicide charge. King was indicted on his original charge of tampering with evidence. The grand jury indicted Franko on a single, reduced charge of obstructing official business. As of August 2024, the case was proceeding through the Stark County Court of Common Pleas.
