DAYTON — A man accused of killing the mother of five children before turning the gun on himself in a November 2014 shooting was indicted today on murder charges.
Ricardo Santiago Jr, 37, of Dayton, faces murder and felonious assault charges for the death of Ashia McFadden at the home in the 400 block of Neal Avenue.
“The responding officers were met at the door by the children of the defendant and victim,” prosecutors said in a statement. “Inside the duplex, the officers found a female who had been shot in the face and a male who had been shot in the head.”
Pauline McFadden said her daughter, Ashia McFadden, and son-in-law had been having trouble in their relationship and had been since they were together in Florida.
Pauline McFadden said she disapproved of their relationship so much that she didn’t attend her daughter’s wedding because she didn’t trust Santiago Jr.
“I put him in jail once,” Pauline McFadden told News Center 7 the day after the shooting. “He picked my daughter up by the throat and slammed her into a wall.”
The mother said her daughter was trying to get away from Santiago Jr.
“She was going to come down here and live,” the mother said, referring to Port St. Lucia, Florida.
A teenager in the home, who is a child of McFadden’s, made the emotional call to 9-1-1 for help. Screams of children could be heard in the background as the dispatcher tried to determine if Santiago was also deceased. He was not.
“She was fun, she was a loving person, she loved her kids very much, she would do anything for you, if you needed help, she would help you,” Ashia’s sister Sharon McFadden said.
The children, who police said range in age from toddler to teenager, were turned over to a paternal aunt after the shooting.
Cox Media Group
