Kelly Ann Karl was a mother of three young children, ages 4 months, 18 months and 7 years. With her funeral on the same day her husband Kevin Stanfill was arrested for her murder, the children were left without parents to care for them. They are now living with their aunt and uncle Falisha and Carlous Stripling of Plainwell who also have three children of their own, ranging from 12 to 17.
While two of Karl’s children are still in diapers and one is still on formula, they are too young to grasp what has happened yet; however, it was the Striplings who broke the news to the 7-year-old.
“It’s just been a nightmare and the most difficult thing I’ve had to do,” Falisha said. “He’s going to need trauma counseling after the things he’s heard and seen.”
Falisha is Stanfill’s sister. She said because of her brother’s troubled behavior over the years, he has been estranged from the Striplings and brother and sister-in-law Fred and Chris Stanfill who had taken in Karl when she tried to escape from the domestic abuse of their brother over a year ago.
“But then she went back and things got worse,” Falisha said. “She was hoping to fix the relationship but that never happens—she needed to just get out.
“I never thought something like this would happen but knowing how it ended I would tell anyone in an abusive situation, they need a safety exit and to never go back.”
When Karl went missing, the 7-year-old was asked if he knew where she went.
“He was told his mother was a whore, she left because he was a bad kid and then he asked if daddy had hurt her again,” Falisha said. “We’ve told him his mama would never have left him, she is now an angel in heaven and was taken away from him because of bad things and choices his dad made. He cried real hard.
“We told him he’d be staying with us where it would be safe and bad things wouldn’t happen anymore.”
Falisha said Karl and Kevin Stanfill would have been married three years in April. While the 7-year-old is not Stanfill’s biological child, he had been his father figure for the past 3 ½ years, leaving the boy confused.
Prior to meeting Karl, Stanfill had served a prison term for operating a methamphetamine lab and had a long history of other charges in his troubled past, Falisha said. He was in jail on unrelated charges when arrested for Karl’s murder.
Besides being subjected to domestic abuse and the loss of his loving mother, the 7-year-old is in need of speech therapy. He is now attending a new school where teachers, staff, students and cousins are helping to provide a positive environment.
With family struggling to cover funeral expenses and to meet the immediate needs of the children, two Go Fund Me pages have been set up for those who would like to help. www.gofundme.com/kellyannkarl is to cover funeral expenses. Any remaining funds will be used to pay for the childrens’ needs. This account has raised $8,000 of the $10,000 goal.
The other Go Fund Me page is at www.gofundme.com/the-children-of-kelly-ann-karl to help pay for the childrens’ immediate needs of housing, medical and mental health.
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