Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Dad assaults girlfriend, murders her 18-year-old daughter (Kingman, Arizona)

Dad DARRELL BRYANT KETCHNER is charged with stabbing and shooting his girlfriend, and murdering her 18-year-old daughter. Ketchner is the father of his girlfriend's three youngest children. The girlfriend had an order of protection as dad has a history of domestic violence and criminal activity. Note that this took place in Maricopa County, which has a suspiciously high number of similar cases.

http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=32315

Murder suspect returned to scene of prior crime
Erin Taylor, Miner Staff Reporter

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

KINGMAN - The man charged with attacking a woman and killing her daughter on the Fourth of July was arrested earlier this year for an incident at the same address where the murders occurred. Jennifer Allison, 35, was listed in guarded condition in the intensive care unit of a Las Vegas hospital Monday afternoon. Allison suffered multiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound to the back of the head and was found unresponsive in her driveway in the 1800 block of Pacific Avenue shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday. Allison's daughter, 18-year-old Ariel Allison, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Darrell Bryant Ketchner, 51, was arrested in connection with the attack by Kingman Police at the Cerbat Cliffs Golf Course Sunday morning.

Police allege Ketchner broke into the Allison home through a side door Saturday around 10:45 p.m. and surprised the victims, who were seated at the dining room table. Sgt. Bob Fisk, public information officer with the Kingman Police Department, said four other people were in the house at the time of the attack. Jennifer Allison was stabbed several times and had made it out the front door to call for help when she was shot. Police found Ariel Allison in a bedroom.

Jennifer Allison had a restraining order barring Ketchner from the property. Ketchner was arrested in April on suspicion that he broke out several car windows in front of the Allison home. Police said they don't have a motive for Saturday's attack.

According to several people who know the family, Ketchner is the father of Jennifer Allison's three youngest children, who range in age from 10 to 2. A child's stroller was outside the residence Monday where police tape still surrounded the scene.

Ariel Allison attended school in Prescott and was spending the summer in Kingman working at the Sonic Drive-In at Keno Avenue and Stockton Hill Road before transferring to Las Vegas in the fall to become a dental hygienist, according to her boss. She had worked off-and-on at Sonic for close to two years, said Manager Crystal Gudel.

"She was very outgoing, very bubbly," Gudel said, "like the sweetest person you ever met. It's just a tragedy. She didn't even get to live her life."

Ketchner's criminal record spans at least 30 years. He spent five days in a Maricopa County jail when he was 19 on misdemeanor counts of obstruction of justice and a reduced charge of driving while intoxicated. In 1999, Ketchner was arrested along with his father, Wayne Bryant Ketchner, after the pair took delivery of 50 pounds of marijuana from undercover officers. The eldest Ketchner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess marijuana for sale and died in prison while serving his sentence.

Darrell Ketchner was also arrested for a variety of offenses in 2008, including misconduct involving weapons and assault by domestic violence.

Police found a pistol on Ketchner when he was arrested. He is being held without bail at the Mohave County Jail.

Friends of the Allison family are collecting money to help clean the home where the murder occurred. An account has been set up at Mission Bank under account number 150012987.