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U.S.|Grand Jury Declines to Indict Parent Who Fatally Shot Kentucky Student
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/us/kentucky-state-shooting-murder-charge.html
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The grand jury received testimony that the man had acted to defend his son, who had faced bullying before the shooting, a local prosecutor said.
Dec. 26, 2025, 8:36 p.m. ET
A grand jury has decided not to indict a man who had been charged with murder in the shooting of a student at Kentucky State University this month, a local prosecutor said on Friday.
The grand jury, which was considering the charge as a formal step toward a possible trial, received testimony that the man had acted in defense of his son, who was also a student and had been involved in an altercation with the shooting victim, said the prosecutor, Larry Cleveland, the Franklin County commonwealth’s attorney.
The Dec. 9 shooting occurred in the middle of finals week for Kentucky State, a university in Frankfort with more than 2,220 students, according to its website. The shooter, Jacob Lee Bard of Evansville, Ind., killed one student, 19-year-old De’Jon Fox, and critically wounded another. The police arrested him on charges of murder and first-degree assault.
The grand jury reviewed evidence that showed Mr. Bard’s son had faced bullying and abuse leading up to the shooting, Mr. Cleveland said.
On that day, Mr. Bard arrived on campus to move his son out of his dorm room, accompanied by a police officer, and bring him back to their home in Indiana, Mr. Cleveland said. He did not elaborate on why the family was being escorted.
But an altercation inside the dorm between a group of students and Mr. Bard’s son escalated as the group forced him, his parents and the escorting officer outside the building, Mr. Cleveland said.
