In June last year, Oklahoma man Ronald McMullen called police from his home to report that his 22-year-old daughter had shot herself in the face.
“When you listen to the 911 call, the father states that she shot herself,” Norman Police spokesperson Sarah Jensen said, the New York Post reports.
McMullen allegedly told police he had seen his daughter accidentally shoot herself while “playing with a wheel-gun”.
But now, the 43-year-old is facing first-degree murder charges for the death of his daughter Kailee McMullen, and a detective has testified that the young woman could not have inflicted the injury herself.
In Monday’s preliminary hearing, Detective Brian Franks told the court that gunshot residue indicated that Kailee had been shot from a distance of about 18 inches (20.3cm).
“It tells me it was fired outside of her reach,” Franks testified, PEOPLE reports.
According to Special Judge Steve Stice’s ruling, there is now enough evidence for McMullen to stand trial. The Norman man has not entered a plea and is currently being held without bond.
As The Oklahoman reports, McMullen was accused but never charged with sexually abusing his daughter in 2009.
Kailee was co-captain of the varsity cheerleading squad at Norman North High School, where she graduated in 2013. Following her tragic death, friends and family posted emotional tributes on her family’s GoFundMe page.
“Kailee was loved by every single life she came in contact with, and will be missed dearly,” the page reads.
“Please keep this family in your prayers and thoughts in the coming days, weeks, months and years. As they will never be the same.”
