Investigation into quadruple Boone County stabbings that killed mother and two children continues

There have still been no charges filed in the Boone County stabbings that left a mother and her two children dead.

Matthew Farrell, a 36-year-old man who also was stabbed at the Richwood apartment complex Jan. 9, suffered wounds to his neck and upper body but was released from the hospital the next day.

“The investigation remains active and ongoing. I can’t get into any specifics beyond that,” Lt. Philip Ridgell, spokesman for the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, said in an email.

“Farrell continues to cooperate fully with the investigation.”

A redacted copy of the sheriff office’s initial offense report shows that Farrell claims that the children’s mother, Monique Pena, is responsible for the stabbings at The Legends at Steeplechase on Overland Ridge Drive outside Walton shortly after 9 p.m.

Because of that, Farrell and the youths are listed in the report as victims and 31-year-old Pena, his girlfriend, as the suspect.

But, “The listing of names is based solely on the information provided to the deputies at the scene,” Ridgell said.

“It is merely a preliminary classification and nothing more. We have not made a final determination on this classification.”

Ridgell also said Boone County authorities would not release more information The Enquirer asked for in a public records request because it could be “a premature release of information to be used in a prospective law enforcement action.”

The children stabbed Jan. 9 were 12-year-old Nikki Romero-Pena and 3-year-old Katie Farrell-Pena. Farrell is Katie’s father, Ridgell said.

The sheriff's office said early on that investigators believe the stabbings were limited to the apartment where the victims were found and to the people who were stabbed.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Boone County sheriff: Man who survived quadruple stabbings cooperating