Lawyer: Man charged in son's death apparently took his own life on Father's Day

Michael Kiefer | The Republic | azcentral.com

Kansas Eric Lavarnia, who was charged with child abuse in the March 2017 shooting death of his 9-year-old son, apparently ended his own life on Father's Day, June 17.

Lavarnia, 32, had been in contact with The Arizona Republic with the intent of proving that his son's death was accidental.

His wife, Wendy Lavarnia, is facing a felony murder charge in the child's death that claims she committed child abuse by leaving a loaded handgun in reach of a younger child who may have pulled the trigger. Prosecutors further allege she then withheld medical treatment that might have saved the boy's life by not immediately calling 911.

"It was an accident," Kansas Lavarnia told The Republic, "and there was no delay in calling 911."

He wanted to talk, he said, because "I have to clear me and my wife’s name (and) don’t want everyone thinking we’re scumbags because the cops are incompetent and want so badly to hang us over something we did not do."

911 call made after 9-year-old was shot, killed The Phoenix mother sounded frantic as she explained how her 9-year-old son, Landen Lavarnia, was shot March 20, 2017, inside their home. But police say the 911 call was a farce.

At about 3 p.m. on March 20, 2017, Wendy Lavarnia called 911 to report the shooting inside her Phoenix home.

She said she had momentarily left a 9mm handgun on a bed and her 2-year-old son picked it up when she wasn't looking and fired it, striking her son Landen in the head. Landen died at a hospital the next day.

READ MORE: Police release 911 call mom made after 9-year-old was shot

Initially, the couple told Phoenix police that Kansas Lavarnia was out shopping and only returned home several hours later. However, he had an unexplained bullet wound in his left arm and police said it looked as if he had stabbed himself with a screwdriver to disguise the wound.

Later, the couple said, Kansas Lavarnia had fled because he had felony convictions for drugs and burglary and could not possess firearms. He did not talk to police.

"I don't talk to cops," he told The Republic. His story went untold until he contacted the newspaper June 6.

Both he and Wendy Lavarnia were initially charged with first-degree murder, predicated on two child-abuse charges: that Wendy had left the gun within reach of a child and that they both had waited to call 911, delaying medical care to the injured child.

READ MORE: 'I will never forget you': Landen Lavarnia remembered

But the charge on withholding medical care was sent back to the grand jury by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jose Padilla, a former nurse, with orders to call a medical doctor to the stand.

Though Landen did not die immediately, the injury was untreatable and therefore no lifesaving medical intervention was withheld, it was argued. The murder charge was dropped against Kansas Lavarnia, though he still faced three child-abuse charges, one for hindering prosecution and another for being a prohibited possessor. Wendy Lavarnia is still in custody, charged with murder.

Kansas Lavarnia told The Republic that he had just awakened from a nap and was groggy. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, he said, and could see Landen in front of him to his right, playing the video game "Call of Duty" on a large-screen television.

"I didn't know there was a gun behind me," he said. Nor did he know that his younger child was there, he said.

But a shot rang out and the bullet hit Kansas in the back upper part of his left arm. The bullet then shattered into fragments and exited his arm in several places, causing the wounds the police attributed to a screwdriver, he said.

One of the fragments then struck Landen in the head.

"I started to fall forward," he said. "I saw Landen drop."

When he turned, he saw the younger boy holding the gun and crying.

"Wendy came running in and said, 'What the hell happened?' " he said.

There was very little blood on Landen because the fragment was so small, he said. Wendy reached for Kansas' pocket where he kept his phone.

"She called 911," he said. "She started doing CPR."

Then he fled.

"She left a gun out. It was stupid," he said. "But it was an accident."

Parents of boy, 9, shot in head facing murder charges Kansas and Wendy Lavarnia, the parents of Landen Lavarnia — who was fatally shot by his 2-year-old brother — are facing first-degree murder charges after police found evidence they delayed calling 911 to clean up the crime scene.

Kansas Lavarnia was released on bond after the murder charge against him was dropped. He was working in a tire shop.

In the evening of June 11, he texted a reporter.

"Did you know that Landen saved the lives of three kids through organ donation?" he asked.

He said he was proud.

"I know it's what he would have wanted me to do," he wrote. "It's hard being asked that question about donating your kids' organs, but saving another kid's life is what any decent person should do."

He repeatedly expressed his grief.

"It's the hardest thing I've ever done," he said.

Apparently, it overwhelmed him.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery announced his death in a press conference Tuesday morning. Lavarnia's attorney, Jamie Jackson, also confirmed the death to The Republic, saying Kansas apparently took his own life. He had no further details.

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