Alison Patton
MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The father of 16-year-old Kayla Huff, who was found dead in a Randolph County conservation area last month, says he’s working with a domestic violence shelter to bring awareness to teen dating violence and abuse.
“We are working with this amazing organization to try to educate our children on the dangers of dating violence and abuse. I hope that with their help we can allow our daughter Kayla Huff to continue to shine her light into our world,” Mike Huff wrote in a Facebook post Thursday morning.
Safe Passage is a nonprofit based in Moberly that serves nine Mid-Missouri counties, including Randolph, Boone and Audrain.
“Thank you, Mike Huff, for setting up this fundraiser for us. We can ear mark [sic] any donations for prevention materials, which have been cut from our budget. We cannot thank your family enough for your advocacy during an unthinkable time in your lives,” the nonprofit posted on Facebook in response to Huff.
The Huff family and the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
When asked if domestic violence had a role in Kayla Huff’s death, Randolph County Prosecutor Stephanie Luntsford said it’s too early to say.
“That investigation is still ongoing,” Luntsford said. “I feel like it may be too premature to specifically say what did or did not play a role in contributing to this, but I can tell you that that is being looked at.”
In a post from Monday, Huff clarified that one of the five suspects charged so far was his daughter’s ex-boyfriend.
“She should still be here making plans for her junior year, having fun with friends, spreading joy to random people at her job at taco bell [sic]. Instead she was murdered by her ex boyfriend, his half sister, and a group of her friends and roommates,” Huff wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday morning.
Safe Passage Co-Director Kelly Pedigo told ABC 17 News that preventing domestic violence was a reason behind Huff’s fundraiser.
“He links Kayla with teen dating violence, and he expressed that he wants to try to prevent this from happening to kids in the future, and that’s one of the things we really focus on,” Pedigo said.
Safe Passage is also facing a $68,000 budget cut, another reason Huff said he wants to donate to the nonprofit.
“There’s really nothing else to take out from our budget. We don’t have anything frivolous in there, so it would immediately attack our staff,” Pedigo said. “Once we start removing staff, it’s going to be difficult to man the shelter 24 hours a day, or to be able to have anybody that’s in the shelter and also available to go and do outreach or provide court advocacy.”
If the fundraiser hits the $5,000 goal, Safe Passage said it would use the money for prevention materials and activities in schools or the community.
Kayla Huff was a sophomore attending Moberly High School virtually. Pedigo said the nonprofit is meeting with high school staff in July to discuss programming.
“We’re just really looking forward to any oppurtunity that we can to try to do some prevention work, and hopefully prevent something like this from happening in the future,” Pedigo said.
As of Thursday evening, the Facebook fundraiser has raised almost $100. This fundraiser follows the creation of a memorial scholarship for Kayla Huff, which has nearly $5,000 as of Thursday morning, Heather Cleavinger, one of the scholarship organizers, told ABC 17 News over text.
One of the five suspects charged in the case is a juvenile, and details about that case have not been released publicly. Two people — Alayna Mason and Hunter Ames — have been charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping.
Christopher Hull and Julian Mason are each charged with first-degree kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
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