Kendra Mae Farler, a 15-year-old White girl, was spending an afternoon visiting her father when her life was cut short. On April 14, 2024, Kendra, her stepmother, and her siblings were with her father, Kenneth Paul Farler III, in his room at a boarding house on Bowen Street in Dayton, Ohio. Shortly after 12 p.m., a 911 call reported a shooting at the residence. When police and medics arrived, they found Kendra had been shot in the chest with a shotgun.
First responders attempted CPR, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
When questioned by police, Kenneth Farler and Kendra's stepmother initially claimed that the shooting was a tragic accident. They told investigators that Kendra’s 15-year-old brother, who is autistic and nonverbal, was the one who had fired the gun. In a 911 call, Farler could be heard telling the dispatcher, "My stepson, he’s autistic, he had no... it was an accident ma’am. He’s autistic he had no [expletive] idea what he was doing."
Dayton Police Department investigators, however, quickly determined that the parents' stories were not consistent. Upon further questioning, Kenneth Farler admitted that he had shot his daughter, though he maintained it was an accident. Authorities disputed this claim, with one police major stating, "Even our victim was asking him to not point a shotgun at her prior to her death. So that's not an accident." Investigators found a shotgun and several other firearms in Farler's room. Kendra's stepmother cooperated with the investigation and was not charged.
Kenneth Farler, 38, was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, endangering children, and 12 counts of having weapons while under disability. As a convicted felon with a criminal history spanning two decades and approximately 40 arrests, he was legally prohibited from possessing firearms. At the time of the shooting, he was on probation for a recent conviction for trafficking cocaine.
In April 2025, Kenneth Paul Farler III pleaded guilty to all charges related to his daughter's death. The following month, in May 2025, a judge sentenced him to prison. His sentence for the killing was combined with a consecutive term for his probation violation, resulting in a total sentence of 24.5 to 28.5 years. The case is considered closed as of his sentencing.
