Posted on 05/16/2012 1:38:06 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
Kayla Allen, the 10-year-old who was the lone survivor of the April 12 shooting at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Brooklyn, died Tuesday afternoon at her home in Strongsville.
Jane Van Bergen, spokeswoman for Hospice of the Western Reserve, said Kayla died in the arms of an aunt at 3:40 p.m. surrounded by her family and friends.
In a statement released Tuesday, the family said, "(We are) appreciative and grateful for the support and prayers of so many during this journey. Kayla has died peacefully at home. She has been surrounded by family and friends for the past few days, comfortable and serene. This time has been most meaningful to us as we held her and loved her, prayed for her and said our good-byes.
"We have been heartened by the hopes and outpouring of concern of friends as well as strangers, and this has given us comfort in a most difficult time."
Kayla's father went on a rampage inside the restaurant, killing Kayla's mom and sister with a shotgun and shooting Kayla in the face.
The incident spurred an outpouring of support for Kayla, with groups raising money for her medical care.
Van Bergen said the family will issue a follow-up statement, likely today, regarding funeral arrangements.
A message posted 5 p.m. Tuesday on the Kayla Allen Benefit Fund on Facebook read "Kayla, in a perfect body, with no pain or sadness, is in heaven with her mother, sister and our Lord Jesus Christ. Her suffering is over. She is in an eternal paradise."
There were 26 Facebook posts in a 45-minute span following Kayla's death.
One from Amanda Taylor said, "Breaks my heart that I will no longer have you in my class. But I rejoice that you are no longer in pain and that you can join your sister Kerri and your mother in heaven."
Of the many moving and heartfelt posts, Debbie Moore Clarke wrote, "Kayla, your purpose was fulfilled by all the lessons you, your mom and sister taught us all on earth. Even through tragedy you were able to bring people together and out of it emerged so much compassion, love and caring...such beautiful gifts that you allowed others to experience as a result of your examples.
"Praying to God to help guide (family and friends) through their grief and focus on all the good the girls did in their lives and the joy they brought to others."
Kayla's father, Kevin, 51, and her mother, Katie, 42, and sister, Kerri, were at the Cracker Barrel celebrating Kerri's 10th birthday. During the gathering, Kayla's mother told Kevin Allen she was leaving him. He then went to his truck and got a shotgun.
When Kevin Allen returned, he killed his wife in the lobby and hunted down the two girls. He shot and killed Kerri and wounded Kayla, who were both hiding in a bathroom stall. Kayla was shot in the face.
Brooklyn police killed Kevin Allen as he left the restaurant.
Kayla's condition at MetroHealth, where she was taken that night, went from critical to serious to fair, and back to critical in the four weeks she was there.
Last Friday the family said Kayla's condition had worsened and she was released to hospice care.
I had a friend. A great guy.
Of course I didn’t have to live with him.
Anyway his first wife left him ran off with another man and told him he would never see his daughter again.She moved with this man to another state.
He got married again and his wife took his daughter on a Girl Scout trip by bus. His wife slept with the bus driver on that trip, and came home and left her husband.
After she left she called him and told him she would be over to pick up the childs clothes.When she got there he killed her and his daughter, called his mother and told her then stuck the gun in his mouth.
I went to the funeral, they buried all three at the same site, at the same time. It was an awful funeral. The guy was a good friend,but I always said that if it had been my daughter and grand daughter, there would have been no way they would have buried them next to him.
I am 70 now and have seen many things during this life.
I do not try to justify the killing of a child, I cannot justify the killing of the mother, but I can say that there are situations that can completely remove all thoughts of anything other than lashing out. This is beyond our judgement they are facing the Judgement of a higher court now. This man knew he was a dead man the minute he went to the truck for his gun.It no longer mattered to his crazed mind. To him he died with those he loved.
“... there are situations that can completely remove all thoughts of anything other than lashing out”.
I appreciate your insights, Venturer. You aren’t justifying a terrible homicide. You are simply stating that you unfortunately knew someone involved in a terrible case like the one posted. It does boggle the mind that a person can “snap” under circumstances like this. Prayers for this family.
What a horrible tragedy.
I didn’t excuse it; I was very clear that there is no defense for it. Sorry for putting it in the guy’s perspective, though; the frequency of the divorces you mention is why American women are chasing men down to get married, and the men are running even faster in the opposite direction to avoid it. You can comfort all those childless single women.
American men have wised up, and they don’t want to be in this guy’s shoes.
What a sad story; I wouldn’t wnat a loved one buried with the killer in that case.
I’d go even further and say this guy died (inside) as soon as he realized what he had left (nothing); I’ve seen one dirtbag taunt a guy that he was going to home to the guy’s wife (actually his ex-wife) and kid. If the guy killed the dirtbag on the spot I would have perjured myself to see the guy skated in court; how is someone expected to mentally digest that?
Exactly right. Men who murder their children do not see them as independent autonomous human beings, but as property. Destroying property in order to prevent others from enjoying it is the hallmark of a selfish, immature jerk.
He never once thought about the value of his daughters’ lives to themselves, only about punishing and depriving his wife of them.
His mindset was no different than a Islamofascist.
I hear ya, desperate times lead to desperation and all that but I gotta say I'd gladly give up every thing I own, not just 50%, if it would protect my daughter. The idea of hunting her down and killing her because I was mad to lost my stuff is so alien to me as to be unfathomable. I don't think this man had a full deck, to do what he did tells me he was a timebomb and I only wish he'd gotten help or chosen to detonate in a room alone rather than destroying his two kids.
This story makes me very sad.
she told him during a birthday dinner for one of their daughters that she was leaving him
Court records show that Kevin Allen had a history of domestic violence dating to previous marriages. Records show he had been divorced at least three times. He was convicted of domestic violence and menacing in two separate cases in 1995.
He and Katie Allen were together since 2000, according to his Facebook page. They and their daughters had lived since 2007 in a sky-blue ranch house that had belonged to her parents.
Neighbors said Katie Allen was severely injured in a car accident years ago and spent months recuperating. Her husband had prostate cancer, according to his Facebook page.
Last August, the coupe filed for bankruptcy, listing $169,000 in debt, including $20,000 in hospital bills. Kevin Allen worked for RWK Services, a commercial cleaning company, according to the bankruptcy filing. The couple earned about $62,000 together in 2010.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/04/at_cracker_barrel_man_guns_dow.html
Kevin Allen
I wonder how well she knew him before they married.
Where did you get the racial angle?
That’s funny.
>>Where did you get the racial angle?<<
Oh you know, tv commercials, the President, the alphabet networks....
Men in general are portrayed as morons.
White men are lower.
It’s not my feeling, I love all men. But you have to admit that if you’re a white man, you’re not shown to be much above the dog in the house.
It can lead to desperation, especially when one is looking at losing everything. It’s not an excuse, just an explaination.
The white man today is definitely at the bottom of the totem pole.
Obama evidently feels he doesn’t need us.
And it’s very sad.
the human race is something else, that's for sure......not what God intended....
have you seen what little children can do?
pathetic attitude,again, seen too many times sadly on FR....
fyi....this man was a violent man with many incidents in his past in his previous marriages.....he is not worth defending....
Look at the bright side: Divorces are down.
stop defending this animal...he had a terrible history with women....stop defending the indefensible!
if eyes can tell a story, this woman her children were angels...
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