Teen who shot dead Irish chef in US was carrying a gun from the age of 10, court told

Sunday World

23-04-2025

A psychologist who assessed the now 15-year-old testified in court that he had a troubled childhood marked by violence, family strife and a cancer diagnosis
A teenager charged with murder in the fatal shooting of well-known Kansas City chef Shaun Brady last year had begun carrying a gun when he was a 10-year-old child, a court has heard.
A psychologist who assessed the now 15-year-old testified in court that he had a troubled childhood marked by violence, family strife and a cancer diagnosis.
The testimony was heard as part of a two-day 'certification hearing' to determine whether the youth, identified in court only by his initials, KH will face prosecution as an adult for Brady's death in August.
Brady was shot at close range in the car park of his restaurant, Brady & Fox, in Brookside, Kansas City on August 28, 2024.
At around 5.15 pm the victim went to the back of the restaurant to throw out empty boxes.
Brady, who is a native of Nenagh, saw several people who had pulled up in a black Hyundai Elantra trying to break into his car, a red Hyundai Sonata which was parked behind the restaurant.
The Irish chef was killed last year
Brady tried to warn the group off his car, and as they fled in their vehicle they got stuck in traffic at the car park exit.
Brady then approached the car and the driver got out in a 'shooters stance' before pointing something at him.
'We just see Brady fall to the ground,' Kansas City Police Department homicide detective Clyde Harvey previously said as he described the CCTV footage to the court.
According to the prosecution, DNA showed that K.H was the driver of the vehicle.
Police had a partial registration plate number for the car, and later that day he was arrested with another teen, a 17-year-old, who is only known as L.M because he is a minor.
L.M was also charged with second degree murder, but the charges were dropped and he was released from custody in late 2024.
A juvenile court heard arguments to move K.M's case to adult court because according to Jackson County authorities it was a 'vicious, forceful and violent act' that endangered the community.
The boy's attorney described him as a 'desperate, starving child' who was forced to sell drugs from the age of 10 to feed himself and his siblings.
This week, the Kansas City Star reports how Jackson County Family Court Administrative Judge Jennifer Phillips heard cases made by both the teen's attorney and the Office of the Juvenile Officer.
The judge will then rule on whether the case will be transferred out of family court, where juvenile cases are prosecuted. Phillips said she would issue a decision ahead of a May 14 hearing.
In closing arguments at the end of Tuesday's proceedings, KH's attorney, Kirby Crick, told Phillips the youth had been failed throughout his life.
Crick asked that she not certify him for prosecution as an adult as he 'never experienced a life without trauma, even in utero'.
However, Dan Barry, representing the Office of the Juvenile Officer, described the shooting as 'vicious' as he asked for the case to be prosecuted in the general court system.
Saying how the incident took from Brady's loved ones a 'family man', he said this was 'the most serious offense that can be committed'.
During Tuesday's gearing, Alexis Humenik, a psychologist hired by the defense to interview and assess KH testified that he was exposed to cocaine, marijuana and alcohol his mother used during her pregnancy.
He was later abused by his father and reported hearing 'whispers' and 'seeing shadows' and has a family history of schizophrenia, Humenik said.
At one point, he lived in a U-Haul truck for one to two months, she said.
Violence and neighbourhood shootings were common in the boy's life, she said, and that became his reality, Humenik said.
Around the age of 10, he began to carry a gun as he sold drugs to make money to provide food and clothing for his siblings, she said.
KH was later diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis, a rare condition that can cause lesions, and Humenik testified, children diagnosed with the condition are more likely to have impulsive behavior, and chemotherapy can stunt brain development.
She diagnosed KH with post-traumatic stress disorder for the childhood traumas he endured and recommended he receive a medical evaluation to rule out a cancer relapse and that he receive treatment for his childhood trauma.
According to the Kansas City Star, state law lays out factors for a judge to consider when reviewing whether to send a juvenile case to general jurisdiction court.
This takes in the seriousness of the alleged offense, whether it involved viciousness and violence, and was part of a pattern of offenses, as well as the youth's age and history.