'Failed by the system': Devastated grandmom seeks justice after 12-yr-old was fatally shot by her own father
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
BARRON COUNTY, WISCONSIN: A grandmother is devastated after her 12-year-old granddaughter was fatally shot by her own father earlier this week. According to Barron County Sheriff's Office, this was believed to be a murder-suicide. Leonard Ahearn first killed his daughter, Angel Ahearn,12, and shot his girlfriend, Rachel Hollifield, in the hand, before he turned the gun on himself inside a home on Celestial Run in Winder. Angel died on the scene while Leonard and Hollifield were transported to a hospital. Leonard died from his injuries but Hollifield is still receiving treatment and is expected to recover.
"I don't think anybody was expecting it to go that far. In fact, I know nobody was expecting it to go that far. Could anybody predict that that would happen? Absolutely not," Angel's grandmother, Monica Dunning explained, according to 11alive. Dunning said that her granddaughter turned 12 on October 11, 2022, but Leonard gunned her down just six days after. The authorities are still probing the incident to find out what exactly happened on that day, Dunning said her granddaughter was "failed by the system."
READ MORE
Half-naked dead woman found in trash as cops suspect she was dumped by partygoers after OD death
Angel's mother reportedly died in a car crash on Halloween 2016. Dunning said that Angel was placed into child protective services in Tennessee, the very next day. "She was placed in CPS custody because she (Angel) had a no contact order with Leonard because of the domestic violence accusations," Dunning said. Angel was placed in eight to ten foster homes in Tennessee for the next few years before her father was awarded custody on May 3, 2021, as reported by the outlet.
"It's heartbreaking that I feel like me and my family were absolutely robbed from the time that my daughter passed away. We just, we had very, very limited contact. And there was absolutely no reason why she couldn't have come here. I passed all the the foster parenting classes and the background checks. I was a licensed kinship foster care home," Dunning claimed. Leonard and Angel reportedly shifted to Barron County sometime after the father was awarded custody. Dunning claimed that she was not aware of Angel's whereabouts until she got a call overnight on Tuesday, October 18, when she came to know that her granddaughter was dead.
"You never think that, you know, somebody that you loved was caring for you and was, you know, nice and lived with you would turn that drastically that fast," Dunning explained. "You just don't see it coming. And Angel, you know she had a horrid life. But I'll tell you, she took it in stride."
A third-party caller claiming to be the surviving woman's aunt said in the 911 call released on Friday that her niece tried to run away from Leonard for the past year. Although she was not sure what triggered the incident, she alleged that it was due to a domestic issue. The woman's aunt told the dispatcher on the call she heard a scream in the house followed by gunshots and then it got silent while she was on the phone with her.
An online fund has been created by Angel Ahearn's family to help them with her funeral arrangements. The remaining money will be donated to a domestic violence organization.