Robert Blake's Daughter Breaks Silence on 'Traumatic Childhood' After Mother's Murder

Robert Blake's daughter is opening up about her life after years of silence.

Rose Lenore was only 11-months-old when her famous father was charged with fatally shooting her mother, Bonny Lee Bakley, outside Vitello's restaurant in Studio City, California, on May 4, 2001. After being acquitted, Blake was held liable in a civil suit.

Lenore was sent to live with her half sister Delilah and her husband a few miles away in Sherman Oaks where she last saw Blake at five-years-old, until a meeting this past summer, according to People.

"It was kind of a traumatic childhood at that point," Lenore told the outlet.

Now Lenore, 19, is pursuing her own acting career -- Blake had roles in countless film and television projects -- and wants to step out of the shadow of her parent's notorious legacy and control her narrative.

"It's hard when everyone talks about you and you're not talking about yourself," she said. "People talk about it anyways. It would be nice to have the actual person they're talking about be able to say something."

When she turned 18, Lenore went to visit her mother's grave near the Hollywood Hills to help her move forward.

"I kind of didn't know where she was buried for the longest time," she explained. "I could have just looked it up, but I didn't. I just don't think I was ready. And then when I was 18, I was like, 'I'm ready. I want to go visit her.'"

The recent meeting with her father Blake allowed her some healing as well. "We talked about my childhood," she detailed. "We talked about his life, what he's been doing. Just talked about everything."

And acting has been a positive experience too. "You get to let go of everything else, all the nervousness, anxiety and sadness and you get to be somebody else," Lenore said.

Blake has maintained a low profile since being acquitted of the murder of Bakley -- who was shot twice in the head and once in the shoulder while sitting in Blake's car parked outside the restaurant.

In 2018, Blake filed for divorce from third wife Pamela Hudak after only a year of marriage, according to TMZ.