PREBLE COUNTY — The man deputies say admitted to killing a woman he did not know with a machete is facing formal charges.
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Kenneth Brabant, 59, was indicted by a Preble County grand jury on Monday on murder, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, tampering with evidence, and attempt to commit an offense.
Preble County Common Pleas Court records also show that Brabant filed a not guilty by reason of insanity plea. In addition to that, his attorney filed a suggestion of incompetency and asked the court to evaluate his competence to stand trial.
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As previously reported, Brabant was arrested in June in connection with the death of Leigha Huff, 41, of Middletown.
Huff was riding on a motorcycle with her friend on Upper Somers Road when Brabant allegedly came to the end of his driveway and swung a machete at them.
The machete slashed Huff’s leg, which caused her to bleed profusely.
The motorcycle driver made a short drive back to a friend’s house on Aukerman Creek and called 911.
When first responders got to the home, Huff had died from the injury.
While in court last week, Capt. Shane Hatfield with the Preble County Sheriff’s Office testified that Brabant had admitted to killing Huff, whom he didn’t know.
“He seen the motorcycle coming and he swung. So I asked him what he swung. And he said, ‘That’s the bad part.’ I said ‘what was it?’ He said. ‘It was a machete,’” Hatfield said.
Five minutes before the 911 call about Huff’s injuries, Brabant’s daughter made a call to dispatch.
“My ex is running up and down the road on his motorcycle, revving it up trying to get my dad to come out. My dad is outside,” she said.
But in court last week, Hatfield testified about what investigators found when they looked into that claim.
“That wasn’t the case. It was two innocent people driving by,” he said.
Court documents stated Brabant tried to clean blood off the machete and hid it in the woods behind his home.
Deputies testified that Brabant drew a map for them of where to find the weapon and about how Brabant reacted when they told him Huff had died.
“He became emotional. He was upset and apologetic,” Hatfield said.
Brabant remains held in the Preble County Jail on a $1 million bond.
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