Kansas City teen, sought in Amber Alert, charged with robbing girl's grandfather

The flight of an 18-year-old Kansas City man who was part of a two-state Amber Alert ended Saturday night as he tried to hide from officers in a McDonald's bathroom.

Anthony King was arrested around 9 p.m. on Saturday in south Kansas City. He is accused of robbing the 62-year-old grandfather of Brajaean Sledge, 15, who was the subject of an Amber Alert after the incident Thursday, during which the man was shot in the back. Sledge was staying at her grandfather's home in the 2700 block of Elmwood Avenue.

King is charged with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. No charges have been filed in the grandfather's shooting.

Police initially believed the shooter abducted Brajaean after the robbery of her grandfather. But the next day, they canceled the Amber Alert upon learning the teen may have left willingly with the suspect.

Court documents say the grandfather believed Brajaean had gathered some clothes and may have been preparing to leave the house with King, but he thought she looked surprised when he was shot.

Neighbors said they heard two gunshots inside the grandfather's home. The man was hospitalized in serious but stable condition. Brajaean was seen leaving after the shooting with a person in her grandfather's 2017 Kia Forte.

The Amber Alert was issued, fearing Brajaean may have been abducted. But detectives meanwhile gathered information from Facebook and from Wyandotte County juvenile system officials that Brajaean and King had been together in the recent past and photographed together. Her mother identified King as Brajaean's boyfriend from a picture, court documents said.

Friday morning, detectives found the Kia Forte in the 11200 block of Bennington Avenue in south Kansas City, and detectives canvassed the area as crime scene investigators gathered and processed evidence.

Surveillance footage from a nearby school showed King and Brajaean walking together from the car, which had suffered wheel damage.

Saturday at 5:30 p.m., Brajaean turned herself in at the Kansas City Police South Patrol Division.

Later that night, patrol officers spotted King outside a McDonald's near Red Bridge Road and Hickman Mills Drive. King saw the officers and ran. As he ran toward the restaurant, police said, they heard a metal clank on the ground. They chased King into the restaurant, where he was found hiding in the bathroom.

When police retraced the path King had run, they found a 9 mm pistol discarded on the ground.

King, when questioned later by detectives, denied any knowledge of the robbery or the shooting of Brajaean's grandfather. He said someone named "Tracy" had placed the firearm in his bag earlier and that he was supposed to meet him at the McDonald's to return it.

King, because of a previous conviction, cannot legally possess a firearm.

Brajaean also went missing earlier this year, according to Kansas City police.

A police statement issued Jan. 15 said the teen had been missing since Jan. 4 from the area of 41st and Denver streets.

Police said at the time that she may have been in Kansas City, Kan., and considered her a runaway but wrote she was endangered.

This story was originally published June 25, 2018 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Kansas City teen, sought in Amber Alert, charged with robbing girl's grandfather."