A Cincinnati man charged in the accidental shooting death of his 11-year-old daughter was denied a temporary release to attend his daughter's funeral after a judge cited security concerns, CNN reports.
Judge Nadine Allen denied a motion filed by a lawyer for Deandre Kelley, 34, because she was concerned that people might want to hurt Kelly or that his presence at the funeral could lead to a dispute, after Kelly was charged with the shooting death of his daughter, Achauntiara Lanza, during an argument with the victim's mother, according to CNN.
"This motion was requested because it was requested by Mr. Kelley's family, especially the deceased young lady's mother," Kelley's lawyer, Hugh McCloskey Jr., said. "This is a family unit, whether we like it or not. They're suffering right now. In order to start healing, it's something they need to go through together."
Kelley has pleaded not guilty and is being held on $500,000 bond. Lanza's funeral is scheduled for Saturday.
Prosecutors said the dispute began hours before the shooting. Achauntiara was having a slumber party at her mother's house when Kelley arrived. The victim's mother and Kelly argued because he brought a gun into the house, which was filled with Achauntiara's friends. Kelley then left the house and went drinking, CNN reports.
Kelly returned about 3:00 a.m., intoxicated, prosecutors said in a statement, and children who were watching TV on the first floor let him in. The mother was upstairs sleeping. Kelley entered the house and fired a shot out of the front door. The girl's mother came down and ordered him to leave. Before he left he fired two more shots, one striking his daughter, who was hiding in an upstairs bedroom.
The girl was struck in the upper torso and was later pronounced dead at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, CNN reports.
Kelley turned himself in the next day and was charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, endangering children and having a weapon under disability—a charge stemming from a prior conviction for cocaine possession.
This wasn't the first time Kelley and Achauntiara's mother have had problems. CNN reports that Kelly had three prior domestic violence charges involving the victim's mother. All of those charges were dismissed when she failed to appear in court.
"There has been a lot of public discussion that the 'system' failed this family," Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters said in a statement at the time of Kelley's indictment. "This defendant has been charged with domestic violence three times and was never convicted because the witness would not cooperate. Now, in an incredibly senseless act, he has killed his daughter, and the mother wants him to attend the funeral.
He added, "This is the end of the road for this enabling. He needs to be in jail and the rest of them should be looking in the mirror for the reason this little girl is dead."
Read more at CNN.