Girl, 13, arrested in death of teen; Keaire Brown is charged with first-degree murder
Minutes after learning that a 13-year-old girl had been charged Friday with murder in Kansas City, Kan., the victim’s friends and family were issued a challenge:
Grieve first. Be angry if you must. But then find a way to come together as a community to fight senseless violence.
The Rev. Lee Nelson and others issued that challenge before about 100 people at a prayer vigil Friday evening at Laurel Avenue and Parkwood Boulevard, the spot where the Scott Sappington Jr., was killed Wednesday — two days before his 17th birthday.
“If you are offended, be offended,” Nelson said. “If you are angry, be angry. But when you get done being offended, get up and do something about it.”
Thirteen-year-old Keaire Brown of Kansas City, Kan., was charged Friday in Wyandotte County District Court. Police said she turned herself in earlier in the day.
She faces charges of first-degree felony murder, District Attorney Jerome Gorman said in a news release. She also was charged with attempted aggravated robbery. Felony murder charges are often filed in cases where someone is killed during the commission of another felony.
Authorities think Sappington may have been the victim of an attempted carjacking as he drove away from dropping off younger siblings at his grandmother’s house in the 1000 block of Laurel Avenue. He was on his way to work at McDonald’s.
The charges were filed in the court’s juvenile department, where Keaire is scheduled to appear Monday. At that time, Gorman said he would file a motion seeking to have her tried as an adult.
The Star does not routinely publish the names of juveniles charged with crimes, unless those crimes are violent felonies.
“Right now, I’m just trying to let this all sink in. It’s just that every time I turn around I’m hugging somebody,” Sappington’s mother, Felicia Johnson, said. She said she hopes authorities have the right person in custody and feels sorry for the girl.
Sappington’s older brother attended the prayer vigil wearing a T-shirt displaying a picture of Sappington and the letters R.I.P.
“I was relieved,” Andre Porter said after hearing that a girl had been arrested. “At the same time it hurt that it was a girl, a person so young.”
Sappington would have started his senior year at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science in about two weeks. He played cornerback and wide receiver for the high school’s varsity football team and wanted to attend the University of Kansas after graduation.
Todd Wassmann, his football coach and a teacher at Sumner Academy, said Sappington was a popular kid, both with students and teachers.
“I was just kind of shocked because I couldn’t believe it was him,” Wassmann said. “I think, what a waste, over a car. ... But look at the positive spin on the community: He’s not going to die in vain.”
At the prayer vigil, Nelson and Keith Jones, a mentor to Sappington at Sumner, urged the crowd to combat the problems and stereotypes of their Wyandotte County community. Friends carried signs that said, “Stop the Violence,” and some students wore T-shirts that said, “Wake up Wyandotte.”
Jones, who is the founder of Reach Back, an all-male mentoring program at Sumner Academy, criticized teenagers for resorting to drugs, violence and sex instead of concentrating on their education.
He called for students to stop pointing fingers and find a way to solve the problems in their community, pointing out the high number of black children in the neighborhood that grow up without fathers.
“It’s time for you to start taking it personally,” he said. “For you to go home and think, ëWhat can I do for Wyandotte County?’ “
The group finished the vigil by chanting “Don’t kill” and singing “Happy Birthday” to Sappington.
The suspect is the second 13-year-old this year to be charged with murder in Wyandotte County, and the second Gorman will recommend trying as an adult.
When Antwuan D. Taylor was charged in April with killing 47-year-old Charles McElroy, authorities said he was possibly the youngest person in the county ever to face a first-degree murder charge.
In 2005, Gorman asked the court to try four other teens as adults. Those teens, ranging in age from 14 to 17, were charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a Chinese food delivery man.
The court agreed in the case of the 17-year-old, who was found guilty of the crime, but tried the rest as juveniles. They were found guilty and sentenced to a juvenile correction facility until the age of 22 and a half.Minutes after learning that a 13-year-old girl had been charged Friday with murder in Kansas City, Kan., the victim’s friends and family were issued a challenge:
Grieve first. Be angry if you must. But then find a way to come together as a community to fight senseless violence.
The Rev. Lee Nelson and others issued that challenge before about 100 people at a prayer vigil Friday evening at Laurel Avenue and Parkwood Boulevard, the spot where the Scott Sappington Jr., was killed Wednesday — two days before his 17th birthday.
“If you are offended, be offended,” Nelson said. “If you are angry, be angry. But when you get done being offended, get up and do something about it.”
Thirteen-year-old Keaire Brown of Kansas City, Kan., was charged Friday in Wyandotte County District Court. Police said she turned herself in earlier in the day.
She faces charges of first-degree felony murder, District Attorney Jerome Gorman said in a news release. She also was charged with attempted aggravated robbery. Felony murder charges are often filed in cases where someone is killed during the commission of another felony.
Authorities think Sappington may have been the victim of an attempted carjacking as he drove away from dropping off younger siblings at his grandmother’s house in the 1000 block of Laurel Avenue. He was on his way to work at McDonald’s.
The charges were filed in the court’s juvenile department, where Keaire is scheduled to appear Monday. At that time, Gorman said he would file a motion seeking to have her tried as an adult.
The Star does not routinely publish the names of juveniles charged with crimes, unless those crimes are violent felonies.
“Right now, I’m just trying to let this all sink in. It’s just that every time I turn around I’m hugging somebody,” Sappington’s mother, Felicia Johnson, said. She said she hopes authorities have the right person in custody and feels sorry for the girl.
Sappington’s older brother attended the prayer vigil wearing a T-shirt displaying a picture of Sappington and the letters R.I.P.
“I was relieved,” Andre Porter said after hearing that a girl had been arrested. “At the same time it hurt that it was a girl, a person so young.”
Sappington would have started his senior year at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science in about two weeks. He played cornerback and wide receiver for the high school’s varsity football team and wanted to attend the University of Kansas after graduation.
Todd Wassmann, his football coach and a teacher at Sumner Academy, said Sappington was a popular kid, both with students and teachers.
“I was just kind of shocked because I couldn’t believe it was him,” Wassmann said. “I think, what a waste, over a car. ... But look at the positive spin on the community: He’s not going to die in vain.”
At the prayer vigil, Nelson and Keith Jones, a mentor to Sappington at Sumner, urged the crowd to combat the problems and stereotypes of their Wyandotte County community. Friends carried signs that said, “Stop the Violence,” and some students wore T-shirts that said, “Wake up Wyandotte.”
Jones, who is the founder of Reach Back, an all-male mentoring program at Sumner Academy, criticized teenagers for resorting to drugs, violence and sex instead of concentrating on their education.
He called for students to stop pointing fingers and find a way to solve the problems in their community, pointing out the high number of black children in the neighborhood that grow up without fathers.
“It’s time for you to start taking it personally,” he said. “For you to go home and think, ëWhat can I do for Wyandotte County?’ “
The group finished the vigil by chanting “Don’t kill” and singing “Happy Birthday” to Sappington.
The suspect is the second 13-year-old this year to be charged with murder in Wyandotte County, and the second Gorman will recommend trying as an adult.
When Antwuan D. Taylor was charged in April with killing 47-year-old Charles McElroy, authorities said he was possibly the youngest person in the county ever to face a first-degree murder charge.
In 2005, Gorman asked the court to try four other teens as adults. Those teens, ranging in age from 14 to 17, were charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a Chinese food delivery man.
The court agreed in the case of the 17-year-old, who was found guilty of the crime, but tried the rest as juveniles. They were found guilty and sentenced to a juvenile correction facility until the age of 22 and a half.
This story was originally published July 26, 2008 at 12:00 AM.