WINDER, Ga. — A grandmother is heartbroken after a shooting claimed the life of her granddaughter earlier this week. The man accused of killing the young girl is her own father, according to the Barrow County Sheriff's Office.
On Oct. 17, deputies said Leonard Ahearn shot his 12-year-old daughter Angel Ahearn and his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself inside a home on Celestial Run in Winder. Both Angel and her father died.
"I don't think anybody was expecting it to go that far. In fact, I know nobody was expecting it to go that far. Could anybody predict that that would happen? Absolutely not," Angel's grandmother, Monica Dunning explained.
Dunning said Angel just turned 12-years-old on October 11, 2022. She was gunned down six days later -- allegedly by her own father.
While the investigation into the deadly shooting is ongoing, Dunning said her granddaughter was failed by the system.
Angel's mom died in a car crash on Halloween in 2016. The next day, Dunning said her granddaughter was placed into child protective services in Tennessee.
"She was placed in CPS custody because she (Angel) had a no contact order with Leonard because of the domestic violence accusations," Dunning said.
Dunning said over the next few years, Angel was placed in eight to ten foster homes in Tennessee before Leonard Ahearn was awarded custody on May 3, 2021.
"It's heartbreaking that I feel like me and my family were absolutely robbed from the time that my daughter passed away. We just, we had very, very limited contact. And there was absolutely no reason why she couldn't have come here. I passed all the the foster parenting classes and the background checks. I was a licensed kinship foster care home, "Dunning claimed.
Leonard and Angel moved to Barrow County at some point after he was awarded custody. Dunning said she wasn't aware of where Angel was until she got a phone call overnight on Tuesday when she learned Angel was dead.
"You never think that, you know, somebody that you loved was caring for you and was, you know, nice and lived with you would turn that drastically that fast," Dunning explained. "You just don't see it coming. And Angel, you know she had a horrid life. But I'll tell you, she took it in stride."
Leonard Ahearn was never charged for any of the allegations made against him in Tennessee. 11Alive reached out to Tennessee Children's Services on Friday multiple times via email but have not gotten a response. 11Alive also reached out to the Barrow County Sheriff's Office to see if they had any prior calls to the home in Winder before Monday's triple shooting.
In the 911 call released on Friday, a third party caller who claimed to be the surviving woman's aunt said her niece had been trying to leave Leonard Ahearn for the past year. She wasn't sure what happened on Monday leading up to the shooting, only stating there was a domestic issue. On the 911 call, the woman's aunt told the dispatcher there was a scream in the house followed by gunshots -- then silence while she was on the phone with her.
Angel Ahearn's family has created an online fund to help them with her funeral arrangements. They said any remaining money will be donated to a domestic violence organization.
If you or someone you know is in a relationship and need help, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.