A 20-year-old and a teenager were arrested for allegedly killing a 6-year-old boy while he was playing in the front yard of his Kansas City home, police announced Thursday.
Lakevis Sloan and an unnamed 17-year-old were busted Tuesday after they hopped off a Greyhound bus in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the Kansas City Kansas Police Department announced.
They were both charged with second-degree murder for their alleged part in the broad daylight May 3 shooting death of Sir’Anthonio Brown.
Sloan also is charged with aggravated child endangerment.
Police are still hunting down a third, unidentified suspect.
“We want Sir’Antonio’s family and our community to know that we are not slowing down the pace of this investigation,” KCKPD Detective Mark Bundy said in a statement.
“Don’t wait any longer, because we will arrest anybody and everybody who is housing or covering for this child killer.”
It is not yet known whether the trio intentionally shot Sir’Antonio while he was playing with his uncle and 7-year-old cousin.
Police said previously that the suspects came to the Kansas City neighborhood with the intention of targeting someone, although they provided no additional details.
Sir’Antonio’s godmother, Shyneisha Hill, suspects the gunmen were after the child’s uncle, whom she described as “in a lot of mess” and claims had been sleeping in his truck parked in front of another relative’s home at night.
“Nobody really knows what the beef is,” she said. “We just are really trying to figure out, like, how it was that serious? Whatever it was, was it that serious to disregard the lives of children?”
Hill, who was at home at the time, said three masked gunmen pulled their car in front of the Kansas City home and fired multiple rounds down the street before fleeing.
“This wasn’t just a random drive-by shooting,” she said.
Police found the suspects’ 2000s model Subaru Legacy wanted in connection with the shooting Thursday.
The car’s alleged owner, 18-year-old Cassandra Sledge, was arrested last week and charged with knowingly lying to police officers.
Sir’Antonio, known to his family as Sir, was an above-average, happy, athletic and caring 6-year-old boy who died enjoying outdoor time with his family, a daily routine of his.
“These arrests doesn’t take the pain away, but they bring a little comfort,” Hill said.
