Former Oklahoma Police Officer Gets 25-Year Sentence for Killing Daughter’s Boyfriend

A former Tulsa police officer who used department records to run a background search on his daughter’s new boyfriend and then sought out and shot him dead was sentenced to 25 years in jail for the 2014 murder.

Shannon Kepler, who served 24 years on the city’s police force, also was ordered to pay the cost of a grave marker for his victim, 19-year-old Jeremey Lake.

Kepler and his wife were “having a difficult time” with their adopted daughter, Lisa, and responded by leaving her at a homeless shelter shortly after she turned 18 with no money, cell phone, credit cards or clothes other than what she wore, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

Days later, Kepler was “alarmed” when he logged onto his daughter’s Facebook account and discovered she had changed her status to being “in a relationship” with Lake, whose family said he was a volunteer at the shelter, according to the U.S. Attorney’s statement.

While still on the job, Kepler then asked a records clerk to use police databases to gather information on Lake and printed out police reports about him.

“The day of the crime,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement said, “Kepler changed into dark clothing, used his wife’s SUV, then traveled after dark to Lake’s last known address” carrying a loaded .357 Magnum revolver that he knew would leave no shell casings at the scene.

Approaching Lake’s address about 9 p.m., Kepler saw his daughter and Lake walking together, and was rebuffed when he tried to speak with her and she kept walking toward the home.

As Lake stood in the street, Kepler pulled his revolver and shot Lake twice. Lake died “almost immediately,” U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson said in a statement announcing the sentence.

Afterward, Kepler fired toward his daughter, the victim’s brother, and a third witness to the killing. The judge previously dismissed a separate assault charge for firing at Lake’s brother.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office: “Kepler then fled the scene, testifying that he knew his fellow Tulsa police officers would be hunting for him, his vehicle, and his weapon. He abandoned the SUV at a former Motel 6 just off the Broken Arrow Expressway and eventually turned himself in.  Approximately 14 hours after the shooting, his former attorney brought the still-loaded murder weapon into the Tulsa Police Station in a zip lock bag.”

“When testifying, Kepler claimed that, although no gun was ever found at the scene, he shot Lake in self-defense after Lake ‘got the jump on him,’ pulling a shiny, semi-automatic pistol from his pants pocket,” the office said. “While Kepler’s attorney argued that a gun found in the Tulsa Police Department several days later ‘could’ have been taken from the scene, expert and forensic evidence proved that the two incidents were unrelated.

Kepler was found guilty last April and sentenced Friday for using a firearm in the commission of second-degree murder. It was his fifth trial on charges in the case. The first three resulted in hung juries, and a fourth resulted in a conviction for manslaughter that was overturned on a technicality, reports the Tulsa World.

Lake’s father, who spoke at the sentencing, and other family members who submitted letters to the court, emphasized “Jeremey never had the chance to grow into the man he had hoped to become for his unborn child,” reported the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “They explained that prior to his death, Jeremey found a steady residence and intended to go to welding school. They also spoke about his selflessness and willingness to help others, as evidenced by his volunteer work at the homeless shelter.

Johnson’s statement said: “Kepler, at the time, was sworn to uphold the law but instead made a series of decisions that led to the young man’s murder. Today’s 25-year sentence provides a measure of justice to Mr. Lake’s family, though I know their healing continues.”

A call by PEOPLE to Kepler’s attorney, Stan Monroe, was not immediately returned.