PREBLE COUNTY – On Sunday, June 22, at approximately 10:32 P.M., deputies and EMS responded to 3788 Aukerman Creek Road, regarding a female who had a severe laceration to her right leg and was bleeding profusely.
After deputies arrived and spoke with the driver of the motorcycle, it was learned that the driver and his female passenger were traveling on Upper Somers Road near Camden, heading to Eaton. As they approached a driveway in the 7700 block, a subject struck the female with an unknown object. The driver stated that the passenger began bleeding heavily and he drove her back to his friend’s house on Aukerman Creek Road, where 9-1-1 was called.
The female passenger, Leigha L. Huff, age 41 of Middletown, was pronounced dead at the residence on Aukerman Creek Road.
Further investigation by deputies found that PCSO 9-1-1 Dispatch Center received a non-emergency call at 10:27 P.M. from a resident at the same location where the assault took place, reporting that an ex-boyfriend was allegedly driving up and down the roadway on a motorcycle, attempting to get the caller to come outside. The caller reported that her father was outside at the time of the call.
Further investigation determined that the victim on the motorcycle was struck by a machete as the motorcycle that she was on passed the driveway on Upper Somers Road, and that the suspect was the father of the caller from Upper Somers Road. The driver and passenger on the motorcycle were not connected to the original complaint.
Deputies executed a search warrant on the property on Upper Somers Road and were able to recover the machete suspected to have been used. After interviewing the father, he was arrested and lodged in the Preble County Jail.
On June 25, Kenneth W. Brabant (59) of Camden was formally charged in Eaton Municipal Court with the following crimes:
(2) counts of Murder, Unclassified Felonies
(2) counts of Felonious Assault, 2nd Degree Felonies
(1) count of Tampering With Evidence, a 3rd Degree Felony
(1) count of Attempt to Commit an Offense, a 1st Degree Felony
Gratis EMS and Gratis FD responded to the scene.
The Preble County Sheriff’s Office, the Preble County Coroner’s Office and the Preble County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating this incident.
Brabant remains in the Preble County Jail, pending his initial appearance in Eaton Municipal Court.
