2 more juveniles taken into police custody after fatal shooting of 19-year-old in Olathe park

Bill Lukitsch
·2 min read

Two more teenagers are in police custody after a 19-year-old was shot and killed early Saturday in Olathe’s Black Bob Park, bringing the tally of young people arrested in connection with the weekend slaying to six.

Olathe Police Sgt. Joel Yeldell, a department spokesman, announced the additional arrests in a brief statement Tuesday afternoon. Additional details, including the identities and ages of the juveniles or whether they face criminal charges, were not immediately provided.

The arrests are related to the killing of Marco Cardino of Smithville. Officers investigating the sound of shots being fired Saturday found Cardino suffering from multiple gunshot wounds shortly before 4 a.m. in Black Bob Park at 14500 W. 151st Street. Cardino died at the scene.

Police arrested four teenagers after contacting those involved in the shooting, police said Monday night. Earlier Tuesday, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe’s office announced that four teenagers — one 13-year-old and three 14-year-olds — had been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the slaying.

The four teens, who are not being identified because they are minors, made their first court appearances Tuesday morning.

Circumstances that led to the shooting remained unclear. At least three of the four are charged under Kansas’ felony murder statute, which allows prosecutors to bring murder charges against a person for committing a felony that led to a person being killed. In some cases, a person who never touched a weapon may be charged with murder.

Charging papers filed in the Johnson County District Court name aggravated battery and criminal discharge of a firearm as underlying felonies that led to the murder charge.

The Johnson County District Attorney’s Office has filed motions to prosecute at least three of the teens as adults. One has three pending cases, two of which allege firearm possession.

The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton contributed to this report.