STARK COUNTY, Ohio — The Stark County Sheriff's Office reports that two people have been charged after a 7-year-old was fatally shot at a Knights Inn early Friday morning in Plain Township.
3News has learned that 37-year-old William Brent Dolch of Akron, the biological father of the victim, has been taken into custody. Dolch was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals' Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force in the 2700 block of 8th Street NW in Canton.
Officials have charged Dolch with having weapons under disability, tampering with evidence, endangering children, and reckless homicide.
In addition, 29-year-old Brittany Franko of Canton has been charged with complicity to commit reckless homicide, endangering children and obstructing official business.
In a call to 911, Franko identified the shooting victim as "my son" and said he had been shot in the back.
"I was just sitting here, we were folding a blanket and then he was standing and getting ready to brush his teeth for the night. I don't what happened, I don't know where it came from or anything," she told a dispatcher.
The Stark County Sheriff's Office says it was around 1 a.m. when deputies responded to the scene of the hotel in the 3900 block of Convenience Circle NW in Plain Township.
"Upon arrival, deputies located a juvenile gunshot victim," authorities said. "The deputies immediately provided first aid to the victim."
A spokesperson for the Stark County Sheriff's Office also told 3News that there were two adults and three children in the room at the time of the shooting. Franko had claimed she was the only one in the room with the child at the time of the shooting, but authorities say that was not the case.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital, where they later died.
“This was a tragic incident that affects the entire community,” explained Stark County Sheriff George T. Maier. “I commend our Deputies, Marshalls with the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force and other community partners for working together to quickly identify and charge those responsible.”
3News Investigates spoke to Franko's ex-husband, Amad Matar, who has custody of the two children he and Franko share. he reacted to the news of the shooting and also gave us insight into Franko's background.
"She was a great mother until she got hooked on drugs," Matar said. He added, "It could've been the 8-year-old, or even my 5-year-old, because she was trying to convince me to let her have unsupervised visits."
Both Dolch and Franko have criminal histories involving drugs, but Dolch has had dozens of run-ins with the law involving drugs and burglary in the last 20 years. So far, detectives don't know how the gun went off, nor whether it was intentional or an accident.
The shooting remains under investigation. Anybody with information is asked to call the Stark County Sheriff's Office Detectives Bureau at (330) 430-3800 ext. 0.
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