Grand jury declines to indict man in shooting that killed teen at Kentucky State University

[Zorro]

The father of two Kentucky State University students had been charged with murder in an on-campus shooting that killed one student and critically injured another.

A grand jury has declined to indict the father of two Kentucky State University students who was charged with murder in an on-campus shooting that killed one student and critically injured another.

In a social media post after the Tuesday hearing, defense attorney Scott Danks said grand jurors decided not to indict his client, Jacob Lee Bard, for the Dec. 9 shooting and he is out of jail. In a previous statement sent to news outlets, Bard’s attorneys have said that 20 to 30 people had gathered to attack his son and family, and that he was justified in shooting two people who were beating his son.

After the grand jury decision, Kentucky State officials said they “will cooperate with law enforcement and investigators as appropriate” and are focused on student safety and well-being.

Bard’s attorneys say the family was moving their younger son out, with two armed campus police officers present, after withdrawing both sons from school because of “multiple armed, violent” incidents against them and other students in the days leading up to Dec. 9, some captured on security cameras.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/12/24/kentucky-state-shooting/

[marble falls]

1. nonfirewall link ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/grand-jury-declines-indict-man-kentucky-state-university-shooting-rcna250895

[OldBaldy1701E]

2. Does anyone know why they were attacking the son in the first place?

Maybe I missed it in the article.

[marble falls]

3. His younger son living in the dorm reported being robbed, which lead to attacks from other people ...

... when the dad went to get his sons off campus they were attacked by a crowd of twenty or more. When they started banging the younger son's head on the concrete, dad shot two attackers, killing one.

The link I provided has the whole story.

[Karma13612]

6. Just awful.These two students

were just trying to move out of the dorm after being bullied and harrassed relentlessly after they had reported the robbery.

Keep in mind that on moving day, even campus security was there. Didn’t make a difference. These nasty boys started attacking the two sons as they were just trying to get out of the dangerous situation.

Truly sad.

[marble falls]

7. Truly sad.

[niyad]

31. There is no indication that the vicious thugs were minors.

[lostincalifornia]

9. Here is the excerpt from your link

"Bard's attorneys say the family was moving their younger son out, with two armed campus police officers present, after withdrawing both sons from school because of "multiple armed, violent" incidents against them and other students in the days leading up to Dec. 9, some captured on security cameras.

When the family and an officer reached the dormitory entrance on the move-out day, the group of people in masks and hoods rushed out and began violently assaulting the family and others, including beating the son's head against the pavement, the attorneys said.

In October, the younger son reported a burglary in his dorm room to campus police and received threats of violence afterward, the attorneys said."

[marble falls]

13. So what did I miss??

[lostincalifornia]

15. Nothing, I didn't see your post when I was typing.

[OldBaldy1701E]

35. Yep. I saw that.

But, what were the 'multiple armed, violent incidents'?

That was my question.

[sop]

51. From N. Kentucky Tribune:

"Multiple media sources have reported that a grand jury this week declined to indict the father of two Kentucky State University students who was charged with murder for an on-campus shooting that killed one student and injured another."

"Subsequently the parents of the deceased student, Chardnae Cleveland and De’Jon Darrell Fox Sr., have been arrested in Indiana for making online threats against the man who shot their son. They have been charged with felony intimidation."

"Bard’s attorneys said 20 to 30 mostly masked people had gathered to attack his son and his family as they were moving his son out of the dorm. They were withdrawing both their sons from the school because of 'multiple armed, violent' incidents to them and others in the days leading up to the December incident."

"Bard’s lawyers said that three days before the shooting, the son and his three friends were assaulted by 15-20 people. They claim the son was attacked with baseball bats and weapons in his dorm room the day before the shooting. The attacks apparently started when the son reported his dorm room burglarized on Oct. 11 by a group that pulled a fire alarm and used fire extinguishers to disable security cameras, and he reported the incident to a resident assistant."

[OldBaldy1701E]

55. Ahh, thanks.

So, this all started because he told his RA that his room was burgled? And, the perpetrators started attacking him at random?

And, where were the university people tasked with making sure this crap does not happen?

'...20-30 masked men gathered...' managed to get absolutely NO attention from anyone who was in the area?

What kind of mafia-style crap is going on at that university?

[mwmisses4289]

58. Those are my questions also.

This school has a major problem if a group like this is operating rather freely on the campus, endangering everybody.
Glad the grand jury declined to convict, dad was defending his kid.

[OldBaldy1701E]

60. I also doubt that this is the only such 'group' on campus.

Based on the reporting, it kind of sounds like they have this issue more than 'the rare event'.

[rollin74]

25. this shooting sounds justified

the dad is a hero

[OldBaldy1701E]

36. Except what specific 'multiple armed, violent incidents' occurred. That was what I was curious about. (n/t)

[Joinfortmill]

4. As far as I can tell that is not being reported. Very strange.

Last edited Fri Dec 26, 2025, 10:58 AM - Edit history (1)

[marble falls]

10. Not so strange. Full story below ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/grand-jury-declines-indict-man-kentucky-state-university-shooting-rcna250895

[Joinfortmill]

28. Thanks much for the link.

[OldBaldy1701E]

37. Awesome. That covers more of it. (n/t)

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

22. apparently a group of students have been engaged in gang like behavior at the university

i read on another site.

[Greg_In_SF]

5. Sounds like

a good shoot to me.

[marble falls]

8. There are no good shoots. Only justified and unjustified shoots.

[Greg_In_SF]

12. I stand

by my statement.

[lostincalifornia]

11. Kentucky State University better expell those violent perpetrators, and those perpetrators need to be indicted.

[marble falls]

16. There has been a problem with non student gang activity on campus. Further investigation is no doubt being made.

[aeromanKC]

14. Too bad the Dad only got one.

[Greg_In_SF]

17. Indeed!

[dalton99a]

18. Good. They need to expel the real criminals.

[rollin74]

19. I'm not sure why the dad was charged in the first place

violent criminals were attacking his son

dad did the right thing

[Frasier Balzov]

20. FAFO at an HBCU

I hate stories which seem to imply that guns and ammunition in the hands of the public are in any way positive whatsoever.

[Greg_In_SF]

26. And yet

it resulted in a positive outcome in this case.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

27. In this case it was, the campus police, for whatever reason,

didn't take action to stop the beating his son was taking, so the dad did what any father would do, he protected his son and stopped the beating.

Carrying a firearm is a huge responsibility that comes with consequences, even when used lawfully, as seems to be in this case.

Glad the Grand Jury refused to indict him, but he's still probably out thousands of dollars on attorney fees and he'll have to live the rest of his life knowing that he took another human beings life, despite the fact that it was, IMHO, a justified use of deadly force.

[Historic NY]

21. The attackers weren't even detered by the armed campus police officers...

tell me a lot about the school and safety.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

24. And why didn't the armed campus police use their tasers or pepperspray against them?

So, if I'm reading the article right, either the cops were stopped by the thugs, or they just stood there forcing the dad to draw his weapon and shoot those 2 criminals.

[marble falls]

29. May have, but they were two against twenty or more. Police don't fire randomly into crowds in an area that has ...

... hundreds in dorms and classroom and walking the campus. The right number of them got shot, no more were needed.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

30. Ok, that makes sense.

It's sad that one lost their life and another was wounded, but they should have never resorted to violence.

[MichMan]

59. Did they call for reinforcements?

Like State or local police ?

[OhioTim]

32. I Used To Live Near

the campus. It can be a dangerous place.

[travelingthrulife]

57. Yes, and they were there because the kid was beaten by them the day before.

Poor law enforcement.

New trend to mask and beat people down....now where might that behavior have come from?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

23. Unless some other evidence comes forward disputing the known facts so far,

this sounds like a clear case of justifiable self defense to me.

[MustLoveBeagles]

38. I agree

🥳🎉

[markodochartaigh]

33. It sounds to me like the real story here

is the failure of university administration and security to keep their campus safe.

[Bayard]

34. Attackers in masks and hoods.....

I'm guessing this was KKK attacking black students. Probably not even students at the school.

[Fla_Democrat]

40. Yeah, that makes sense.

[hardluck]

43. Doesn't look like a member of the KKK to me

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kentucky-state-university-student-killed-shooting-identified-rcna248436

[Bayard]

44. I wasn't talking about the victim,

The perpetrators were wearing hoods and masks.

[hardluck]

46. That "victim" was the one wearing the hoods and masks

He was the one shot by the father protecting his sons.

[Bayard]

47. Sorry, but I consider the kid getting beat up as the victim

[Boo1]

49. The kids getting beat up

The thugs beating them up and the dad that shot said thugs were all black.

[hardluck]

56. I agree

I posted the article which discussed the person shot (calling him a victim) who was one of the group in masks beating up the son. He’s black and obviously not the KKK. Yet, you continued with your notion that it could have been the KKK. Did you actually read the article?

[hardluck]

50. Did anyone read the article I posted?

I’m not claiming the one shot was the victim. I actually posted the one shot, was wearing the mask, who was black and obviously not KKK. The article called him the victim but I was responding to the person who said it was the KKK.

Jesus.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

54. Ok, fair enough.

I'll go ahead and delete my previous post.
Peace out
Dan

[dalton99a]

39. 'I want his son dead': Parents of KSU shooting victim arrested for threatening shooter's family

https://www.whas11.com/article/news/crime/ksu-shooting-victim-parents-arrest-threats-facebook/417-1bdd282e-8c6f-4c49-811a-8ba737fd58d7

‘I want his son dead’: Parents of KSU shooting victim arrested for threatening shooter's family
The victim's parents, Chardnae Cleveland and De'Jon Fox Sr., made several threatening posts on Facebook, according to police.
Author: Joseph Garcia
Published: 1:51 PM EST December 26, 2025

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The parents of the Kentucky State University student who was fatally shot on Dec. 9 have been charged with felonies in southern Indiana.

De’Jon Fox Jr. has been identified as the victim in the shooting on KSU's campus in Frankfort, Ky. Another student was also shot but survived.

On Christmas, the 19-year-old victim's mother, Chardnae Cleveland, and father, De'Jon Fox Sr., were arrested and charged with intimidation.

Their arrests come days after a grand jury chose not to indict the teen's shooter, Jacob Bard, who is the father of another KSU student.

...

[ProfessorGAC]

41. Getting Worse & Worse

On campus violence, leads to violence, which leads to a dead kid, which leads to threats of violence.
Things have spun completely out of whack.

[exboyfil]

53. Snitches get stiches

Seems to be the message I am getting. Only one charged in the incident was no billed by a grand jury. No charges by the authorities for those who committed acts that a grand jury determined were justifications for lethal self defense.

[rollin74]

42. those parents sound like lovely people

no wonder their son turned out to be a violent criminal

[exboyfil]

52. But the President of KSU

Ensures everyone is safe. I wouldn't be bringing my kid back to that school.