Rutherfordton, NC – A 15-year-old girl shot and killed her mother's boyfriend who was strangling her mother and had threatened to kill everyone in the house.

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said it received a 911 call at 12:11 a.m. Aug. 8 about a shooting.

When deputies arrived they found 46-year-old Steven Kelley's body with two gunshot wounds, according to a post on the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.

Kelley was the boyfriend of Chandra Nierman who lived with Nierman and her 12-year-old son and two daughters, ages 15 and 16.

All five people had recently moved to the area from Indiana, according to police.

The police determined that Kelley had attacked Nierman and was strangling her.

While he was attacking his girlfriend, the man yelled that he was going to cut Nierman’s throat and kill everyone in the house.

Nierman’s 12-year-old son got a gun and Nierman’s 15-year-old daughter took the gun from her brother and shot it twice, hitting Kelley in the chest.

One of the fired rounds fragmented and grazed Nierman’s 16-year-old daughter in the leg. She was taken to the hospital and released.

Nierman suffered significant bruises and contusions from the attack, police said.

Police said Kelley had threatened Nierman several times in the past.

On Aug. 4, the police stated that Kelley had assaulted Nierman and fired multiple shots from a gun inside the residence in order to threaten and terrorize Nierman.

Police added that Kelley was a convicted felon, had multiple firearms in the house, and usually carried one on his person.

He also had two active domestic violence protection orders against him from two different women in Indiana and Ohio, police said.

There were no domestic violence calls made to the South Carolina residence, according to the Charlotte Observer.

The District Attorney’s Office determined that the shooting was justified and no charges will be filed, according to the police.

On her Facebook page, Brandi Saddler wrote that she read about the incident.


“I just wanted to say I’m so sorry you had to go through that and your daughter is the definition of a hero!!” Saddler wrote.

“ALL 3 of my kids are heroes! Ty,” Nierman wrote back.