NKY man shot girlfriend in the head, kidnapped 3-year-old son, prosecutors say

It's been almost a year and a half since police discovered 25-year-old Kameryn Recchia lying dead on the kitchen floor of a double-wide trailer in Morning View, Kentucky.

Prosecutors say her boyfriend, 28-year-old Dillon Brewster, shot her twice in the head before fleeing out of state in Recchia's car with her 3-year-old son.

Brewster is facing charges of murder, kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and persistent felony offender, court records show. His trial began on Tuesday and will likely continue into next week.

'I knew something wasn't right'

On Oct. 20, 2021, Kenton County police were called to check on Recchia, as her family was unable to reach her, said Emily Arnzen, assistant Kenton County prosecuting attorney.

Police went out to the trailer in the 11000 block of Brewster Lane, where Recchia and her son had been living with Brewster and his late father, but they were unable to make contact with her, prosecutors said.

The Kenton County officers then met with her mother, Lisa Recchia, and stepfather at the trailer, a criminal complaint states.

While officers and Recchia's family tried knocking on the trailer's doors and windows, Arnzen said, the search was complicated by the fact that Recchia was deaf and it was possible she was safe inside but simply couldn't hear them.

The doors were locked, the lights were on and the shades were drawn, Arnzen said.

"I was frantic," Lisa Recchia said in court Tuesday. "I knew something wasn't right."

Eventually, Recchia's stepfather entered the home through an open window and let the police inside through the front door, the document says.

An officer found Recchia on the kitchen floor lying with blood all around her, the complaint states, noting that when they went to check her pulse, "she was cold to the touch."

Prosecutors said Recchia was shot twice in the head. There was a bullet wound through her cheek, with an exit wound in the back of her head, and a second bullet wound to her forehead.

Meanwhile, Brewster had been arrested by the Ohio State Highway Patrol after he led troopers on a pursuit for several miles along southbound Interstate 75 just north of Dayton, according to court testimony. He was driving Recchia's car.

Recchia's 3-year-old son was in the backseat, prosecutors said, adding troopers recovered a .22-caliber rifle and ammunition, as well as Recchia's wallet and cell phone. The local children's services agency took custody of Recchia's child until the family was able to pick him up.

Lisa Recchia said that she and her ex-husband now share custody of the boy, who will turn 5 years old in August.

Prosecutor: Shell casings used to match rifle to bullets fired at scene

Investigators were able to recover the bullets that hit Recchia, Arnzen said, adding one was lodged in the kitchen wall and the other was recovered by the medical examiner who performed Recchia's autopsy.

The fragments of metal left behind by the bullets were too badly damaged for the Kentucky State Police forensics lab to make any comparisons, Arnzen said.

However, investigators were able to compare shell casings recovered from the scene to the rifle taken from Recchia's car after the pursuit and determined the shots were fired from that gun, she added.

During an interview at the jail in Miami County, Ohio, Brewster told a Kenton County detective that he and Recchia had been arguing over an issue at her job and that she was still alive when he left, according to the complaint.

He said he took the gun with him because he was afraid Recchia would call his parole officer over it since he's a convicted felon.

Court records show Brewster has previous convictions for drug possession in Kenton County and a DUI conviction out of Clermont County.

Lawyer says Brewster was in 'fight or flight mode'

Amy Miller, Brewster's public defender, said that on Oct. 19, 2021, Recchia and Brewster's relationship had been deteriorating and that the pair were feuding over money.

In a fit of rage, Miller said, Recchia told Brewster that if he didn't give her the money, "she could just have someone come over and get it." Miller added Brewster, who'd suspected someone had been in his home before and stolen things, entered "fight or flight mode."

She said Brewster grabbed his father's rifle to fend off "an imminent attack" and noticed items that were in the bedroom closet had been strewn over the bed.

"His panic reaches a peak," Miller said. "He lifts the rifle and he shoots."

She said Brewster grabbed Recchia's keys, smartphone and 3-year-old son and fled the residence. Brewster was trying to save the boy from "impending danger," Miller said.

Miller said she isn't arguing that Brewster didn't shoot and kill Recchia.

"This was not an intentional murder," she said. "This was a scared 26-year-old quite literally running for his life."