Former Okla. cop convicted of manslaughter for killing daughter's boyfriend

Oct. 19 (UPI) -- A former Oklahoma police officer charged with murder for killing his daughter's boyfriend was found guilty of manslaughter Wednesday and will face up to 15 years in prison.

Shannon Kepler was an off-duty Tulsa police officer when he shot and killed 19-year-old Jeremy Lake on Aug. 5, 2014. Lake was involved in a relationship with Kepler's 18-year-old daughter, Lisa Kepler, who testified against her father during the trial, reported the Tulsa World.

Lisa Kepler said her parents dropped her off at a homeless shelter during the summer of 2014 because she had been staying out late and acting out at home. While at the shelter, she met Lake, who was a volunteer there. The two began a romance and she started to stay at Lake's home, where he lived with his aunt.

But once Shannon Kepler found out where she was, he confronted the couple at Lake's home, fatally shot the 19-year-old man and fled in his SUV.

Shannon Kepler told jurors that he went to Lake's home to inform his daughter about Lake's criminal history he obtained from police records and, once there, Lake pointed a gun at him.

However, no gun was found on the scene.

"There is no Santa Claus. There was no gun. And Shannon Kepler is guilty of murder," Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray told jurors.

After more than five hours of deliberation, jurors found Shannon Kepler guilty of the lesser charge manslaughter.

This was the fourth murder trial on the same charges for Shannon Kepler. The previous three each ended in a hung jury.