NEW RICHMOND, Ohio — In what Judge Richard P. Ferenc called one of the most brutal and cold-blooded murders he's seen in his career, Keyanta Gardner was sentenced to life without parole on Wednesday in Clermont County Common Pleas Court.

Gardner pleaded guilty in October to aggravated murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated murder in the death of Bobby Farrell on July 6.

"It's unfathomable to me," Ferenc told Gardner. "I don't know how a brain can operate to do this to such a trusted friend. In the 44 years I've been a participant in the criminal justice system, this is one of the most brutal, cold-blooded, planned executions I've seen."

Members of Farrell's family – including his brother, sister, mother and father – spoke before Gardner was sentenced. Gardner's uncle and mother spoke on his behalf, as did some of his co-workers.

"He sat and watched as our whole world crashed around us for six days," Katie Farrell, Bobby's sister, said. "He played with Bobby's daughter while we got fake ransom calls."

Katie Farrell recalled going for a ride with Gardner and recording it with his permission after her brother went missing. She was hoping Gardner could recall details of the night her brother went missing.

"On July 9, as everyone was looking for my brother, I recorded him with his permission in hopes he remembered something," she recalled. "I know we went the same route he took my brother that night. We turned around two minutes from where he dumped his body."

After Beasley and Gardner disposed of Farrell's body, Gardner continued to hang around Farrell's family, going as far as to travel with them to view surveillance footage in Clifton on the chance it gave a clue to Farrell's whereabouts.

Jenny Farrell, Bobby Farrell's mother, described talking to Gardner through text while at the hospital waiting for the birth of her granddaughter, hoping he could remember clues that could find her son.

"We loved him as one of us," she said. "When we made plans, he was invited and he would come. He was always polite, never got angry and never gave me a reason to not like him, but boy was I fooled."

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NEW RICHMOND, Ohio — A Clermont County judge Thursday morning issued a $1-million bond for the suspect accused of killing a man who went missing from New Richmond earlier this month.

Twenty-three-year-old Bobby Farrell had been missing since July 6 when authorities discovered his body abandoned on a tree-lined country road in New Richmond Monday. Police have since accused 23-year-old Kenyata Gardner of murder in Farrell's death.

Photo courtesy New Richmond Police Department

Gardner was already in custody at the time officers from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation identified him as the culprit.

He’d been questioned during the investigation into Farrell’s disappearance, and his answers earned him charges of tampering with evidence and obstructing official business.

NEW RICHMOND, Ohio —

Tuesday brought a heartbreaking announcement in the search for a missing Clermont County man.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation believes a body found off of State Route 222 on Monday is that of Robert "Bobby" Farrell Jr., 23, from New Richmond.

Along with new details released by officials, there are still many lingering questions.

The search for Farrell started in New Richmond and has expanded into the county.

Even as family members said his best friend has been arrested, the questions of "How?", "Who?" and "Why?" are still unanswered.

Exclusive WLWT video showed a scene in the 2300 block of State Route 222 in Clermont County on Monday night just before 11 p.m.

The road was blocked off by tape.

Clermont County sheriff's deputies and the Clermont County coroner were in sight as evidence and bags were loaded into a truck.

Investigators have not elaborated on everything they found on Monday night.

But as of Tuesday, Ohio BCI officials said they believe they found the remains of Farrell off the roadway, describing him as the victim of a homicide.

His family has been devastated since he disappeared from New Richmond on July 6.

"He went out with his friend and that's all we really know. He went out with his friend and never came home," Farrell's aunt, Sandy Coorey, said.

Family members said Farrell's best friend, Keyanta Gardner, spent days helping them search for the young dad.

On Monday, we uncovered Gardner was arrested in connection to Farrell's disappearance.

Investigators said he admitted to making false and misleading statements to BCI agents.

The tragedy just keeps getting worse for Farrell's family.

"It just hard when you watch someone grow up as a baby, and just, and you don't know what's happening," Coorey said.

Neighbors in New Richmond and along State Route 222 told WLWT that police have asked for surveillance video from July 6.

Clermont County dispatchers said no one called 911 to report the body, so it's unclear how it was found or when it was put there.

Even still, there is a community demanding justice for Farrell.

The Ohio BCI said though Gardner is already charged with tampering with evidence, additional charges are expected.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Ohio BCI at 1-855-224-6446.