Teen’s death incomprehensible to his mother, as is who is the suspect

Michael Farrow knew no stranger. He was the kind of kid, his mother said, who could make others crack a smile just by flashing his own grin.

“Michael had the biggest heart, and he helped so many people, so many of his friends,” Keri Brooks said of her 17-year-old son.

“He was loyal, and he just wanted to make people laugh. It’s really what he wanted. It’s who he was.”

Michael died Sunday after he was shot in an alley near his home in the 2400 block at North Minnesota. Police say his father, 41-year-old Glen Farrow, pulled the trigger.

Michael will be remembered during a public memorial service set for 1 p.m. on Friday at Pathway Church, 2001 N. Maize Road. An hourlong candlelight vigil will follow at 6:30 p.m. at Glen Dey Park, 2801 N. Grove.

Battery-operated candles and lights will be allowed in the park, but traditional wax candles won’t. Brooks, who recently moved to Florida, is asking those planning to attend to be peaceful and observe an hour of silence “for all the violence in Wichita” that has claimed the lives of teens.

“I know that it’s not just my son that’s died,” she said. Michael’s family also is urging children and teens experiencing violence to seek out a trusted adult to tell.

“If an adult doesn’t know, and if you’re really good at hiding it, tragic things can happen,” said Teresa Schleuter, Michael’s aunt.

“None of us in our family would’ve seen this coming from a mile away.”

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Glen Farrow with second-degree intentional murder in connection with his son’s slaying.

Sedgwick County Chief Public Defender Mark Rudy said his office received word it had been appointed to defend Farrow and has read through charging documents, but an attorney has not met with him yet. That will likely happen on Friday, Rudy said.

Farrow is next due in court on April 5. He remained in Sedgwick County Jail on Thursday in lieu of $150,000 bond.

Brooks said she saw no signs that Michael’s father was capable of that level of violence against his children. Sometimes he and Michael argued – clashing at times because their personalities were so similar, she said.

Once, they got into a physical fight and both ended up with bruises. But there was also a great deal of love between them, she said.

“Yes, they had their arguments. And, yes, they had their problems. But ... he (Glen) still showed him affection. And he tried,” Brooks said.

“I don’t understand it. It’s incomprehensible. I can’t even come up with a reason he would shoot.”

Brooks said she was told by police that Glen Farrow shot their son in the back while he was running away after an argument at around 9 p.m. on Sunday. They’d fought, she’s been told, over some trouble Michael had been having at school after Michael got home from spending time with a friend that night. Police on Monday would not offer specifics on what the argument was about, saying they’ve heard several stories.

Michael was a junior at Wichita East High School. But a recent verbal scuffle with a teacher meant he would have needed to move to Wichita public schools’ Gateway Alternative Program to finish his fourth quarter, Brooks said.

“Traditional schools were very difficult for him throughout his whole school year, his whole school life,” Brooks said.

He was supposed to transfer schools after spring break, Brooks said. Then, on May 22, he and his 14-year-old sister and 15-year-old brother were planning to relocate to Florida with Brooks and finish their education there.

Michael died before spring break started.

Police said earlier this week that Glen Farrow fired several rounds from a handgun, “striking and killing his son,” and then went back into the house afterward.

When officers arrived, a friend of Michael’s was with him in the alley. He told police that Glen Farrow was responsible for the shooting and led officers back to the house where the argument happened.

Brooks said she learned something was wrong with Michael that night after her 14-year-old daughter called her in Florida. “She was worried about Michael, and I said, ‘OK, let me find out what’s going on with him.’ ”

She called Michael’s stepmother, who told her a shooting had happened. Then she went to Facebook Messenger to contact Michael directly.

He never responded.

“It just frustrates me, because I had a plan worked out” for Michael’s schooling and move to Florida, Brooks said Thursday.

“Glen knew what I had worked out. He knew what I was working on to make that happen for Michael. He took that. He took all of that. He took every opportunity that Michael had. It’s just gone. Now Michael doesn’t have any opportunities.”

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Teen’s death incomprehensible to his mother, as is who is the suspect."