On Nov. 23, his guardian filed an unruly charge on him and said he was a runaway and had been gone since Oct. 17.
Tiernan, who was charged Thursday with murder in connection with Anthony Parker’s death, had no apparent prior history of violence, according to Warren County Children Services, which placed the teen at One Way Farm in late November.
He will be tried as an adult, said Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser, who said Parker’s death was a result of a “brutal unjustified felony assault.”
Parker, a 16-year-old Fairfield High School student, died Wednesday night at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where he had been on life support since the Dec. 19 assault.
An autopsy performed Thursday confirmed the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, Gmoser said.
The charges against Tiernan were upgraded Thursday. Originally charged with felony aggravated assault, he has been held in the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center since Dec. 19.
On Dec. 19, One Way Farm staff called for an ambulance around 11:30 p.m. when Parker was found in his room unresponsive and on the floor during a bed check, according to Fairfield Twp. police. The call came three hours after he was assaulted.
Between 7:30 and 8 p.m., Tiernan, who at 6 feet, 5 inches and 215 pounds was 70 pounds heavier and 8 inches taller than Parker, allegedly slammed Parker to the ground. Fairfield Twp. Police Chief Richard St. John said Parker landed on his head, and that Tiernan then allegedly repeatedly struck the younger teen in his head. The chief said the incident may have been sparked over a dispute over a flashlight each teen claimed was his.
Canupp said an ambulance wasn’t called sooner because Parker did not seem in need of medical attention and had even made a sandwich after the incident.
“The boy who was hit was walking around and talking normally right after being struck, so we had no reason to believe there was any serious injury involved,” she said. “I am proud of how our staff responded. They did not observe anything from their angle that would have suggested serious injury occurred.”
One Way Farm is a nonprofit organization licensed to provide residential care 365 days a year, 24 hours a day to 10 male children between the ages of 6 and 17, or if handicapped, up to age 21, through its Sunrise home at 6141 River Road. It also has a capacity of 10 female children, ages 6 to 17, or up to 21 for handicapped clients, through its New Dawn home at 6145 River Road on its campus, documents show. The agency has full certification through Dec. 29, 2012.
Staff Writer Hannah Poturalski contributed to this report.
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