HAMILTON, Ohio -- "Can somebody come and put me in handcuffs? I just shot my dad."
Those were the words 14-year-old Mariah Ponder told a 911 dispatcher Thursday after police said she shot her father, James Allen Ponder, in the face.
Police charged Mariah with aggravated murder. She appeared in court Friday morning.
The shooting was reported at about 6:49 a.m. at a home on Millville Avenue in Hamilton.
James, 71, was still alive when officers responded, Sgt. Brian Robinson said. He was taken to Fort Hamilton Hospital, then flown via helicopter to another hospital where he later died.
Investigators identified James' daughter as the shooter based on evidence, a 911 recording and statements made at the scene, Robinson said.
Mariah identified herself in the 911 call.
She was taken to the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center.
Robinson said "there is no danger to the general public" and "this was an isolated domestic situation."
"Investigators are currently interviewing members of the household to determine exactly what transpired and what led up to the shooting," he said.
Rhonda Campo, a neighbor, said she had lived near the Ponder family for 20 years but never gotten to know them. They were quiet, she said. That makes James' death all the harder for her to understand.
"I don’t know what can go through a little kid’s mind," Campo said. “I know right now she is going to need her family a lot. Nobody knows the circumstances or what went on."
