Teen initially charged with murder pleads guilty to lesser crimes in Olathe killing
A 17-year-old boy on Thursday admitted his role in setting up an $8 Xanax deal that led to the fatal shooting of another high school student in an Olathe cul-de-sac.
Rolland Kobelo pleaded guilty to two amended charges of aggravated robbery and distribution of Xanax in March. When he is sentenced in December, prosecutors and Kobelo’s defense attorney will recommend he be sentenced to prison for 10 years.
Kobelo was initially charged with felony murder in the killing of 17-year-old Rowan Padgett, who was found shot about 5 p.m. March 29 in the driveway of a home in the 12300 block of South Mullen Court. The drug deal fell through before the shooting. Prosecutors say Padgett was shot by the would-be buyer, 18-year-old Matthew Lee Bibee Jr., outside the residence of Jordan Denny, who was 16.
Prosecutors said Kobelo helped set up the drug deal and told Bibee he could “go run that kid’s pockets,” a term Donald Hymer Jr., an assistant Johnson County district attorney, described as being a street term for a robbery.
As he pleaded guilty, Kobelo responded to the judge’s questions about his guily plea with, “Yes, your honor.” He was cuffed at his feet and stood with his hands behind his back.
Before he pleaded guilty, Kobelo had been in the Kansas foster care system. His father is listed as a resident of Texas and his mother a resident of Tanzania. He had previously been in juvenile justice programming, Hymer said.
Bibee was charged with several offenses in the killings, including capital murder and premeditated first-degree murder. Denny was charged with felony murder and obstruction by giving false information to investigators.
Felony murder is a doctrine that exists in 42 states, including Kansas and Missouri, in which someone can be charged if a death occurs during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony. Some felony murder cases have been controversial, with opinions split among legal experts, attorneys and activists about whether prosecutors may take the law too far.
The Johnson County District Attorney’s Office has filed a “major increase” of felony murder cases in the last two years following a rash of deadly drug ripoffs, District Attorney Steve Howe has said. At least 10 people were charged with the crime in 15 months.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 2:04 PM.
