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Kristian Nealy Ard pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child and other charges and was sentenced to 20 years in state prison, followed by 10 years of probation, after 16-year-old Dakota Edward Kersey was fatally shot in Escambia County, Florida.

Ard was 18 and lived in a mobile home in the 9700 block of Grace Drive, off Guidy Lane, in the Ensley area north of Pensacola. Their relationship was not described. Ard was later charged with contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a child and possession of alcohol by a person under 21.

Escambia County sheriff's deputies were called to the Grace Drive address on December 18, 2019, and found Kersey with a single gunshot wound to the head. Ard made the 911 call but never told the dispatcher that there was a firearm or that Kersey had been shot, saying only that she did not know what had happened. Kersey was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital, pronounced brain dead on December 26, removed from life support and pronounced dead on December 28, 2019.

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office found bloody Clorox wipes in the trash and smear marks in some bloodstains, which the arrest report described as an attempt to clean part of the scene. The spent shell casing was hidden in the bottom of a cigarette pack. Deputies recovered a stolen Smith and Wesson M and P 9mm pistol identified as the weapon used, several types of ammunition, cocaine, marijuana, THC cartridges, counterfeit currency, alcohol and drug paraphernalia. Sentencing coverage said the pistol was in Ard's purse, while January 2020 reporting described its recovery during a search of her Ford Mustang.

Ard agreed to speak with deputies and was interviewed again after search warrants were executed. Her statements were redacted from the arrest report, leaving what she said in each session outside the public record. The report said she made several false and inconsistent statements, including about ownership of the firearm, and she was charged with knowingly giving false information to law enforcement. Ard was arrested on January 22, 2020, and held on a $680,000 bond. A second man, Andrew Nathaniel Manning, was sought for questioning and located, but no charge against him is reported.

Ard was not charged with murder. The counts filed in January 2020 were aggravated manslaughter of a child, grand theft of a firearm, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, possession of a hallucinogen with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia, giving false information to law enforcement, three counts of evidence tampering, and contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a minor.

Ard pleaded guilty. At sentencing, reported as March 1, 2022, the convictions listed were aggravated manslaughter of a child, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, possession of tetrahydrocannabinol with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, possession of cannabis with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, three counts of tampering with evidence, possession of drug paraphernalia, contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a child, false report to law enforcement, and possession of alcohol by a person under 21. Assistant State Attorney Jessica Etherton said Ard's actions during the incident and throughout the investigation showed she is a danger to the community. No appeal or change in custody status has been reported.

The video is a police interview-room recording that runs about 174 minutes. It presents Ard's interview itself and opens with a short narrated introduction naming the people involved.

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Part 2 of 3 of the recording described above.

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Part 3 of 3 of the recording described above.