Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Father Accused Of Killing 22-Year-Old Daughter Physically And Sexually Abused Her, Witnesses Testify
Ronald McMullen claims his daughter Kailee Jo McMullen fatally shot herself, but prosecutors are painting a picture of a disturbing relationship.
An Oklahoma father accused of fatally shooting his daughter in the face and blaming her death on a suicide also may have sexually abused her, according to witnesses who testified at his murder trial.
Ronald Lee McMullen Jr., 43, has been in Norman, Oklahoma’s Cleveland County Courthouse this week to stand trial on first-degree murder charges in the untimely death of his 22-year-old daughter, Kailee Jo McMullen.
Three friends of Kailee testified in court that she told them months before she died that her father was physically and sexually abusive.
The witnesses -- one of them a man who dated Kailee on-and-off for six months -- recalled how Kailee confided in them how the father would climb into her bed and inappropriately touch her, according to the trial testimony chronicled by The Oklahoman.
One of them, Sonia Ghanatti Hester, testified Kailee "told me her dad hit her and made her nose bleed," according to the publication.
Hester also claimed that the alleged abuse triggered Kailee’s mother to take a stand against McMullen and one time “pulled a gun on him."
The trial isn't the first time abuse allegations against McMullen have been made. In fact, McMullen was accused of sexually abusing Kailee in 2009, The Norman Transcript reported, citing a police report.
Prosecutors allege that during the early morning of June 29, 2017, McMullen shot Kailee and then stalled in calling 911 for help. Instead, the man allegedly first rang his wife and then Kailee’s birth mother, according to Oklahoma City’s NBC station KFOR.
By 5:45 a.m., prosecutors say McMullen placed the 911 call and told the dispatcher that his daughter shot herself, the outlet reported.
“Did she do it to herself?” the 911 dispatcher asked.
“Yes,” McMullen responded.
He later told the dispatcher that he moved his daughter to the living room and suspected she was “not breathing.”
“She’s gone,” he is heard saying on the recorded 911 phone call. “I’m telling you she’s gone. She’s not breathing.”
He later tried to apply chest compressions, taking direction from the dispatcher before his wife arrived and took over.
“My wife’s a nurse,” he said. “She’s doing CPR.”
When authorities arrived at the home they reportedly encountered McMullen wearing a blood-soaked tank top, and his wife hopelessly performing CPR, according to The Norman Transcript, citing the search warrant affidavit.
Medics also attempted to resuscitate Kailee without success.
The father told detectives that Kailee was playing with a gun, which had somehow fired off a bullet that struck her face, according to the publication's reporting of the affidavit. He has since remained in custody after pleading not guilty in March 2018.
In his opening statement, McMullen’s defense attorney, Michael Johnson, chalked up Kailee’s death as a tragedy she inflicted on herself and emphasized how there was gunshot residue evidence on her hand to support the theory, KFOR 4 reported.
Prosecutors maintain that McMullen caused her death.
In fact, the night before the deadly shooting, Kailee had gone on a date, according to the police report described in The Norman Transcript. Police allegedly pulled various text message exchanges between him and his daughter from his cell phone. McMullen allegedly gave her an ultimatum to either return home promptly or he would drive out and get her.
