Kelly Boren's father speaks out about the deaths of his daughter and grandchildren
SYRACUSE -- Sitting in Jeff King’s kitchen are years of pictures, depicting as much life as there now is loss.
“It’s literally the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through. You don’t sleep, you can’t focus on anything,” King said.
On Thursday night, he was waiting to hear back from his daughter, Kelly Boren, about weekend plans when he instead heard from police.
“She didn’t get back with me. And Friday morning, early wee hours of the morning, the sheriff’s department was knocking on the door to break us the bad news,” he said.
That’s when King learned that his daughter, Kelly, her two children, Hayley and Jayden, and their grandmother, King’s ex-wife, Marie, were all dead, shot to death by King’s son-in-law, Joshua Boren.
“As a father, you’d do anything and everything to protect your kid,” King said. “You’d put down your life for them and then to see this.”
The Borens were taking time apart, according to King, but seemed happy, even going on a recent family trip together.
“Everything I saw of Josh was he was a good dad,” King said. “And that was one thing Kelly always cherished about him. You know, he’s such a good father and then you just, you can’t grasp it, you can’t put your head around it at all.”
The last few days have been filled with questions, many of which will never be answered.
“I never saw anything like that in him,” King said. “It creates emotions you can’t believe. I mean, if he was here I would probably tear him apart.”
For King, the next few days will be filled with memories, ones that are as comforting as they are painful.
“You’ll just look at a picture, or see a kid on the sidewalk as you drive by, and just fall apart and have to pull over on the side of the road because you can’t even drive anymore,” King said.
Funeral services for Marie King and Kelly, Jaden and Haley Boren will be held Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 11 a.m. at Lindquist Mortuaries in Layton.
