An apparent misunderstanding involving a motorcycle and a woman who thought she saw her ex-boyfriend led to a man throwing a machete and killing someone in a quiet Ohio town this week, police say.
Kenneth Wayne Brabant, 59, was arrested Monday on charges of murder, tampering with evidence, and assault. He is currently detained in the Preble County Jail.
“All I can say is I’m sorry,” Brabant stated in court on Wednesday, according to Dayton-based CBS affiliate WHIO.
“Do not, please, get into the facts of your case,” the judge allegedly responded.
On Sunday night, Leigha Huff, 41, was riding as a passenger on a motorbike on Upper Somers Road in Camden, Ohio.
Around the same time, the Preble County Sheriff’s Office said they received a non-emergency call from a woman on the 7700 block of that road who complained that her ex-boyfriend was driving a motorbike up and down the road near her house, attempting to get her outside, according to Newport, Kentucky-based Fox affiliate WXIX.
The caller reportedly informed the dispatcher that her father, Brabant, was also outside.
It appears that at this point, Huff’s motorbike approached the road, and Brabant allegedly threw a machete at it, striking Huff on the leg. WXIX obtained audio testimony from the unnamed man driving the motorbike, which sheds light on the harrowing moment.
“The guy was pursuing us with that thing…” I noticed him coming from the corner of my eye… “And he was doing this, and she was like, ‘Oh my God,’ and then I sped up because I knew he had something,” the motorbike driver told police. “And she goes, ‘oh my god, I’m hit, I’m hit.'”
The man reportedly drove to a friend’s house to get a phone to call for help because the woman was bleeding profusely, but by the time emergency personnel arrived, she had died.
As of Thursday, authorities had not determined whether a separate motorbike or ex-boyfriend was involved at all. They stated that neither Huff nor the man she was with knew Brabant or his daughter.
“We have been unable to confirm the initial report of a motorbike. “I’m not sure if that happened or not,” Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson told Dayton’s NBC affiliate WDTN. “Someone made a decision to go to the end of the driveway and confront whomever they thought that was, and it ended tragically for our victim.”
According to WDTN, Brabant’s charge of tampering with evidence stemmed from the fact that he initially concealed the machete before revealing its location to police.
Camden, Ohio, is located approximately 40 miles north of Cincinnati. It has a population of around 2,000.
