CINCINNATI (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER) – A Northern Kentucky father kept a handgun to protect himself and his family. He sometimes stored the loaded weapon in an unlocked dresser drawer in the same room where his children slept at their Covington apartment, according to media partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer.
On a January afternoon in 2024, Tashaun Adams’ 3-year-old son accessed the drawer, retrieved the gun, and shot his 2-year-old brother.
Khalil Adams died at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center from a gunshot wound to the chest. At the scene, his older brother told police, “Daddy’s gun is in the drawer,” according to a criminal complaint.
Tashaun Adams, now 23, and the boys’ mother, 25-year-old Selena Farrell, were convicted on April 17 on charges related to Khalil’s death following a four-day trial in Kenton County Circuit Court.
Both were found guilty of reckless homicide. Farrell was also convicted of abandoning a minor. Prosecutors had sought murder convictions. The case marks a rare instance of parents being held criminally responsible after one child fatally shot another.
“This case is about the parents’ choices,” Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said in court. “They made lots of mistakes, but they weren’t accidents.”
Farrell purchased the handgun from a pawn shop in late 2021, two weeks after Khalil was born, according to court filings. She later gave the weapon to Adams.
NKY dad warned about leaving gun within kids’ reach
Adams said in court that his difficult upbringing sometimes made him feel the need to carry a gun.
However, court records show that authorities warned Adams twice about keeping firearms within reach of his children.
In July 2022, officers responded to Adams’ apartment in Erlanger after a 911 call reported guns within reach of the children. Police searched the home and found an unsecured firearm in the bedroom. It was the same gun used in Khalil’s death.
Later that year, officers responded to a report involving Adams filed with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. They arrived with social workers at a home in Florence, where Adams and his sons were staying with a relative, and found a gun on the counter within reach of the older child.
Authorities again instructed him to secure the weapon. Adams signed a prevention plan, agreeing to provide a “safe and stable environment” and ensure proper supervision of the children.
“Everything that happened in this case was preventable,” Sanders said.
Despite warnings, Adams’ attorney Joseph Holbrook said social workers repeatedly visited his home to assess safety concerns and did not find the gun.
Adams sometimes stored the weapon in the dresser under a laptop or in a kitchen cabinet.
“He didn’t think it was accessible,” Holbrook said. “He’s never been told that it’s not safe.”
Adams complied with visits for more than a year without issues being identified. Then the shooting occurred.
‘I blame myself for it every day,’ father testifies
At the time, the couple lived in Covington with Adams’ cousin and a friend. All adults were asleep until the afternoon when they woke to a gunshot.
Adams said he jumped out of bed and saw Khalil lying on the floor.
“His eyes were closed,” Adams said. “It didn’t look like he was breathing.”
As officers approached the apartment building on Warren Street, Adams met them carrying the 2-year-old in his arms. First responders provided medical aid in the street until paramedics transported Khalil to the hospital.
Farrell told police the older child had a fascination with guns, while Adams said the boy liked playing with Nerf guns. He said he had never seen the children attempt to access the dresser or retrieve the firearm.
Looking back, Adams acknowledged that he was wrong about the gun being safely stored.
“I blame myself for it every day,” he said.
Farrell left before officers arrived. She later told investigators she believed the child would die and wanted to attend his funeral. If she had stayed, she likely would have been arrested on an outstanding warrant.
Attorneys for both parents described the shooting as an accident, saying they will carry the loss of Khalil for the rest of their lives.
“Every crime is a tragedy, but not every tragedy is a crime,” said Katelyn Sanders, Farrell’s attorney.
Parents failed to supervise boys for hours, prosecutor says
Because of the family’s living situation, the gun was kept in the same room where the children slept, prosecutor Rob Sanders said.
He said the weapon was left loaded in an unlocked dresser and that the older child knew where it was and could access it.
“We know that he could because he did,” Sanders said.
He added that the children were left unsupervised for hours throughout the morning and into the afternoon while the adults slept.
“This was hours of failure to supervise and care for those two little boys,” Sanders said.
The jury recommended that Adams serve five years in prison and Farrell serve seven years. Both are scheduled to return to court for final sentencing before Judge Kathy Lape.
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