A fatal misunderstanding involving a motorcycle and a case of mistaken identity ended in tragedy in a small Ohio town this week, when a man allegedly hurled a machete at a passing bike, killing a woman who was riding as a passenger.
Kenneth Wayne Brabant, 59, has been charged with murder, assault, and tampering with evidence following the Sunday night incident in Camden, Ohio. He is currently being held in the Preble County Jail.
“All I can say is I’m sorry,” Brabant reportedly told the judge during his court appearance on Wednesday, according to WHIO. The judge swiftly warned him, “Do not, please do not get into the facts of your case.”
The series of events began when a woman on the 7700 block of Upper Somers Road called the Preble County Sheriff’s Office to report that she believed her ex-boyfriend was riding a motorcycle near her house, attempting to draw her outside. She told the dispatcher her father — Brabant — was outside as well.
Around that time, 41-year-old Leigha Huff was riding on the back of a motorcycle traveling down that same road. Believing Huff’s motorcycle to be the one his daughter had called about, Brabant allegedly emerged from the driveway and threw a machete at the passing bike, striking Huff in the leg.
“The guy was coming after us with that thing … I seen him coming out of the corner of my eye … and he doing this, and she was like, ‘Oh my God,’” the motorcycle’s driver told authorities in audio obtained by WXIX. “And she goes, ‘Oh my God, I’m hit, I’m hit.’”
The driver rushed Huff to a friend’s house to get help, but by the time emergency responders arrived, she had bled to death from the wound.
Investigators say there is no evidence that Huff or the man she was with had any connection to Brabant or his daughter. Sheriff Mike Simpson told WDTN that officers have not been able to verify whether a second motorcycle — possibly the one the daughter had mentioned — was ever present.
“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,” Simpson said.
Brabant was also charged with tampering with evidence after police said he initially hid the machete before later revealing where it was.
Camden, located about 40 miles north of Cincinnati, has a population of roughly 2,000.
