Fifth teen charged in Olathe homicide. Prosecutors want to try her and 3 others as adults

Johnson County prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday to charge a fourth teen as an adult in connection to the weekend shooting death of a 19-year-old found in an Olathe park.

The teen, a 14-year-old female, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of Marco Cardino, of Smithville, who was found with multiple gunshot wounds just before 4 a.m. Saturday in Black Bob Park. He died at the scene.

Prosecutors filed a similar motion Tuesday on three other 14 year olds who were arrested earlier. In total, six suspects were taken into custody in connection to Olathe’s first homicide this year.

All six teens — two of whom are 13— have been charged in juvenile court with first-degree murder.

An online court database shows school histories for four of the teens arrested. That history indicates that all four have been Johnson County middle school students and are in the Olathe and Blue Valley school districts. It is not known if the teens still are middle school students.

A spokeswoman with Olathe Public Schools confirmed to The Star that three of the 14-year-old suspects charged are students in the district.

One suspect’s school history was listed as Overland Trail Middle School in Overland Park. A spokesperson with Blue Valley Schools referred questions about the case to the Olathe Police Department.

Four of the six juvenile suspects went to Santa Fe Middle School in Olathe at one point, social media posts indicate. A photo on one suspect’s Facebook page shows him and another suspect posing in a group photo with teammates on the football team.

An Instagram story from another suspect shows him in a basketball jersey from Santa Fe Middle School.

Circumstances that led to the shooting remain unclear.

A woman believed to be Cardino’s mother, posted on her Facebook page early Sunday morning.

“My son..... I will miss you for the rest of my life.... rest in peace,” she wrote.

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.