Jackson County Family Court prosecutors have dropped charges against one of the juveniles charged in the fatal shooting of Irish chef Shaun Brady, a mistake that the teen’s lawyer said was made when emotions in the city were at a “fever pitch.”
The 17-year-old, known only as “L.M.” because he is a juvenile, was released last Wednesday, said his attorney, Matthew Merryman.
A family court spokesman, Scott Lauck, confirmed that the second-degree murder charges were dropped but had no comment.
Merryman said L.M., who is not guilty of the shooting, was arrested when emotions were running high in the city after the murder of Brady, the well-loved owner of the Brookside restaurant Brady & Fox Restaurant and Lounge. Brady's August killing, just days before KC Irish Fest, made international news.
“It is my concern that sometimes when that fever pitch occurs, sometimes things happen too quick and judgement is placed too quick and people are accused too quick,” Merryman said. “And that’s when you get this railroad effect.”
Brady, 44, was killed in late August while trying to stop a carjacking outside his pub at 63rd Street and Rockhill Road. It was one of a rash of property crimes committed by armed teens. Police quickly arrested the two minors, who have been held ever since.
K.H., 15, faces a January hearing to determine if he will be tried as an adult.
Merryman said that L.M. is back with his family, after missing school for more than three months, and is trying to return to a sense of normalcy, but he is scarred by his 95 days behind bars.
Merryman asked that other parents think of their own children, “imagine them in their formative years being ripped out of their home, arrested and being accused of the most heinous crime, murder.”
“Being that child and knowing you had nothing to do with this, how is that going to affect you for the rest of your life? It’s something he’s going to have to carry,” Merryman said.
Merryman said the family is considering its legal options.
