Kingman man sentenced to death in stabbing of 18-year-old

A Mohave County Superior Court jury has determined a Kingman man should be executed for the July 2009 murder of his estranged girlfriend’s daughter.

Monday’s death sentence was the only suspense in the lengthy trial. The defense conceded from the onset that Darrell Ketchner, 55, was guilty in the death of Ariel Allison, 18.

Prosecutor Megan McCoy argued the attack demanded no less than a death sentence. The jury rejected defense arguments that Ketchner should be spared because of challenging life circumstances.

There was no dispute at trial that as Ketchner stabbed Jennifer Allison, 38, her daughter intervened. Ariel Allison was stabbed and died. Her mother survived a gunshot to the head and multiple stab wounds.

Ariel Allison was on summer break and home from college when Ketchner entered her mother’s residence and began stabbing Jennifer Allison.

Ariel Allison’s grandfather Bob Allison said there’s some relief the legal proceedings have concluded.

“We’ll pick up the pieces of our lives and carry on,” he said.

“I just hope after it’s all over people really do know who Ariel was. She won’t be forgotten.”