17-05-2025
Judge rules that teen charged with murder of Irish chef in US cannot be tried as an adult
Shaun Brady was shot at close range in the car park of his restaurant, Brady & Fox, in Brookside, Kansas City on August 28, 2024
A judge in the US has ruled that a teenager charged with the murder of Irish chef Shaun Brady in Kansas City, Missouri, will be tried as a juvenile.
Jackson County Family Court Administrative Judge Jennifer Phillips said the Co Tipperary man's 15-year-old accused killer will not stand trial as an adult.
The judge has set a trial date for September having denied a request to send the case against the teenager out of family court to the general court system.
The Kansas City Star reported on Wednesday that the judge ordered that the teen, who can only be named by his initials, K.H as he is a minor, will remain in secure detention.
Judge Philips set the trial for September 23 and 24 of the accused who has been charged with counts of second-degree murder, attempted stealing of a vehicle, and armed criminal action.
Brady was shot at close range in the car park of his restaurant, Brady & Fox, in Brookside, Kansas City on August 28, 2024.
Shaun Brady
News in 90 Seconds - May 17th
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.
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.
The Kansas City Star previously reported 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.
In closing arguments K.H'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'.
On January 4, Brady's family and friends gathered for a funeral Mass for the talented chef at St Mary's of the Rosary Church in Nenagh, Co Tipperary.
In an emotional eulogy, Shaun's brother Damien said: "Shaun Paul had built a wonderful life for himself and his family in Kansas [City] - a home for their kids.
'He worked tirelessly to establish and run his own restaurant and become a treasured part of the community, something we witnessed ourselves in Kansas [City] when the local community came together to grieve his death and again here today.
'Shaun was so proud to call Nenagh his home. When we visited his restaurant in Kansas [City], the walls were decorated with paintings of local landmarks - the castle, the church, an old painting taken from a book in mam's house in Summerhill.
'He kept a map of Ireland that hung in our family home and mam had wanted him to have it in his house in Kansas [City].
'He never forgot where he came from.
