Teen pleads guilty to bringing gun to school

The same high-school student who brought the gun to school that killed Kaden Robert two years ago pleaded guilty in court Thursday to having brought a weapon onto campus again.

Landon Urhahn, 18, of Benton, Missouri, pleaded guilty to felony unlawful use of a weapon Thursday in Scott County Circuit Court.

The Scott County prosecuting attorney’s office dropped misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and unlawful use of paraphernalia as part of a plea agreement.

Judge David Dolan said the agreement included a recommendation of suspended imposition of sentence that includes a term of probation. Because of the high-profile nature of the case, Dolan scheduled a sentencing hearing at 10 a.m. May 11 to allow any victims to testify in the case.

“I don’t want to run anything past anybody,” Dolan said.

Assistant prosecuting attorney Robert Zachary Horack said Urhahn knowingly carried a firearm on or around his person Nov. 18 at Kelly High School. A 9 mm Smith and Wesson pistol and two loaded magazines were found in Urhahn’s truck after he consented to a search by Scott County sheriff’s deputies, according to a probable-cause statement filed by detective Branden Caid. Reportedly, Urhahn told other students he had a gun in his vehicle in the midst of an argument. Unlawful use of a weapon is a class D felony that can carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

Curtis Poore, attorney for the Robert family, confirmed Urhahn was the student who brought the handgun to Kelly High School the day Kaden Robert, 15, was shot in June 2014.

The gun was in Urhahn’s truck, which four boys entered after playing basketball. It discharged as one boy was passing it to Kaden Robert, police have said. Urhahn was one of two students who were suspended from school as a result of the accidental shooting, Poore said, although he did not face criminal charges.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

4035 Highway 77, Benton, Mo.