Child abuse charges filed against man

Cathy Scott

Thursday, March 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

A 2 1/2-year-old boy was recovering today in a Las Vegas hospital while his bounty hunter father sat in the Pahrump jail on child abuse charges.

In addition to allegedly beating the toddler, 29-year-old Dennis Kieren has been charged with murder in the March 7 shooting death of his roommate, 26-year-old David Allen Broyles.

Kieren was arrested March 14 after he returned his son, Anthony, home after a three-day visit.

Anthony was vomiting and "covered in bruises, all over his body," said his mother, Cheryl, who asked that her last name not be used.

"My son is in the hospital with a lacerated pancreas and internal injuries," she said, noting that doctors say he's not out of the woods yet. "He has a black eye. His organs in the pelvic area were bruised. He had bruises on his legs, chest, arms, buttocks and scrotum.

"I hope Dennis never gets out of jail. I want to see justice done. Every day I hope someone does to him what he did to Anthony."

Kieren told Cheryl that Anthony was vomiting because he had the flu, so she drove Anthony to the hospital. She first saw the bruises when she removed his clothes in the examining room.

"I couldn't believe it," Cheryl said. "I said, 'Oh my God.' The sides of his arms, his chest, his back were purple. His stomach was black. ... The doctor said children with less severe injuries have died."

Cheryl never suspected Kieren.

"I just thought Dennis was careless and didn't pay enough attention," she said. "Anthony was having too many accidents. It never occurred to me that he was abusing him."

Cheryl had a six-week relationship with Kieren, got pregnant and stayed in touch with him "because he was the father." Kieren went to court and got joint custody.

Cheryl said she met Kieren while the two worked at Kenny's Bail Bonds. An employee there said Kieren was "hired by us on occasion" to catch people who jumped bail.

Alerted by the hospital, the Nye County sheriff's department arrested Kieren at his parents' Pahrump home.

On March 21, Metro Police filed an open murder charge against Kieren in the killing of Broyles.

Broyles, also a bounty hunter, bit off the top half of Kieren's left ear during an argument before Kieren shot him dead in the chest and back.

Mike Woods witnessed the killing of his best friend.

"All David wanted to do was get out of the house," Woods said Wednesday.

Broyles had planned to move out the next day. Woods drove him to Kieren's home at 2828 Mt. Hope St., near Hollywood and Lake Mead boulevards.

Woods, Broyles and Broyles' girlfriend sat in the garage and talked. About midnight, Broyles went into the house. Woods heard a crash and ran inside and found Broyles holding Kieren in the master bathroom tub.

"David had Dennis by the ear and an 8-inch diver's knife at his throat," Woods said. "I yelled, 'David, don't. What are you doing?' David said, 'He went for his gun, Mike.' David was biting so hard, he tore off Dennis' ear. He spit it out in the tub."

Woods told Broyles to give him the knife. It was Kieren's knife, which he kept on a ledge above the tub.

"He said, 'You hold him down and don't let him out.' I took the knife and David ran out," Woods said. "I'm standing there with a bloody knife over Dennis. There was blood everywhere. Dennis gets up, and goes for his gun in a bag near the door."

The now-armed Kieren kept his eye on Woods as the pair walked out of the bedroom.

"He was hunting for David," Woods said. "He was in a combat mode, sweeping the house."

Kieren opened the door to the garage "and there was David, standing there. (His girlfriend) Christy was behind him."

"Dennis fired at him. The first shots hit him in the shoulders, thigh and hip."

Broyles lay face down on the concrete when "Dennis crouched down and shot him at point-blank range in the back. I was so shocked, standing there. It was murder."

Woods wanted to get "David out of there. David was dying. He looked at me and his eyes went fixed. He gasped. I knew CPR wouldn't do any good. I didn't want him to die in that house. I pulled him out to the end of the driveway. I just sat there and held my buddy, and Metro came flying up the street."

Woods said he warned homicide detectives that there would be other victims if they didn't arrest Kieren, and "now his son is a victim."

Metro Police Sgt. Ken Hefner explained why Kieren wasn't arrested immediately: "Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding that case took some investigation and some time to separate what happened. It was a convoluted story that required some dissection."

The Clark County district attorney has charged Kieren with murder with a deadly weapon, battery with a deadly weapon and attempted murder with a deadly weapon.

The Nye County district attorney has charged Kieren with two counts of felony child abuse and he is being held on $10,000 bail.

Kieren also is being held on $3 million bail on the murder charges. Once his case is completed in Nye County, he will be moved to a Las Vegas jail.

As for Anthony's prognosis, "His spirits are good," Cheryl said. University Medical Center doctors are keeping him for at least a week longer for observation.