Georgia girl, 12, killed by father after family court grants him custody - The Guardian US

A Tennessee grandma who fought for custody of her precocious daughter’s kid but mislaid retired to the girl’s begetter was near grieving and aggravated aft the antheral murdered her granddaughter.

Monica Dunning is holding up the shooting decease of her 12-year-old granddaughter, Angel Ahearn, arsenic devastating grounds that the US household tribunal strategy is broken, the Tennessee quality outlet WBIR reported.

Angel’s parent died successful a car clang successful Monroe county, Tennessee, successful 2016. Dunning subsequently pushed to beryllium named her granddaughter’s guardian. But the miss spent clip successful respective foster homes earlier her father, Leonard Ahearn, gained custody of her.

According to Dunning, her girl was divorced from Ahearn astatine the clip of her death, and determination had been allegations of maltreatment which led to a tribunal bid that prevented him from seeing Angel.

The determination to grant Ahearn custody contempt those allegations produced a tragic result astatine the household location successful Barrow county, Georgia, much than a three-hour thrust from Monroe county, Tennessee.

On 17 October, authorities say, Ahearn was arguing with a 34-year-old pistillate erstwhile helium grabbed a pistol and changeable her, his girl and himself. First responders arrived to find Angel dormant and the 2 adults severely wounded. Ahearn died aft helium and the pistillate were taken to hospital.

“She watched her begetter locomotion up to her and enactment a weapon to her caput and sprout her,” Dunning told WBIR successful an interrogation this week. “That’s conscionable horrifying. No 12-year-old, particularly that 12-year-old, should spell done that.

“There was nary mode that you could beryllium successful a country with her, adjacent 2 seconds, and not conscionable perfectly emotion her. She was outgoing, she was expressive, she was happy.”

Dunning said she was peculiarly frustrated due to the fact that she invested clip and wealth undergoing a process aimed astatine authorizing her to attraction for Angel, successful a location wherever Angel would person been safe. But she said it seemed arsenic if officials successful complaint of her lawsuit “would spot [Angel] with anybody” but her maternal grandmother.

The children’s services section of Tennessee told WBIR that courts person the last connection connected wherever immoderate kid is placed to live. WBIR reported that the justice who ruled connected Angel’s case, Benjy Thomas, declined to comment.

Tennessee authorities location typical Gloria Johnson said Angel’s decease illustrated conscionable 1 of the problems plaguing an understaffed, underpaid children’s services section and the courts with which it works.

Systems crossed the US look akin issues. Johnson told WBIR she was calling connected Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, to decently money authorities children’s services earlier immoderate different children were hurt.

“It’s conscionable morally wrong,” Johnson said to WBIR. “I deliberation it’s clip to find the wealth to code the concern now.”