12-year-old Kansas City boy shot and killed in Leavenworth; 2 suspects charged

A 12-year-old boy from Kansas City was killed in a shooting late Wednesday in Leavenworth, according to police.

Police received multiple 911 calls at about 6:45 p.m. of a possible shooting at the Kare Pharmacy in the 2500 block of South Fourth Street, Leavenworth Police Chief Pat Kitchens said.

Officers didn’t initially find any victims, but they discovered shell casings on the ground, Kitchens said.

Police determined that a suspect, in the parking lot, fired multiple shots at a black Volkswagen Jetta sedan. Another bullet struck a red sedan — occupied by a woman and her 6-month-old daughter — that was traveling north on Fourth Street, police said.

About an hour later, Leavenworth police were contacted by the Kansas City Police Department. They were told a family had arrived at Children’s Mercy with a child who had been shot. The victim arrived in a black Volkswagon Jetta sedan.

The child, 12, was declared dead at the hospital, Kitchens said. Police determined the child was wounded during the shooting in Leavenworth. On Friday morning, Kitchens publicly identified the boy as Brian Henderson Jr. of Kansas City.

At about 1 a.m. Thursday, investigators identified three suspects: Darvon Thomas, 25, of Leavenworth, and two teenage boys, ages 17 and 15, who are from Kansas City, Kansas, according to police.

On Thursday, prosecutors said Thomas had been charged with first-degree felony murder. The 17-year-old suspect was charged with felony murder and discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle, according to Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson.

Thompson noted that under Kansas law, his office could not release the name of the juvenile defendant.

A SWAT team found the suspects in the 200 block of South 12th Street in Leavenworth and took them into custody.

The investigation is ongoing. Police are meeting with prosecutors Thursday afternoon to discuss the case, Kitchens said.