In the early morning hours of May 14, 2022, 19-year-old Marco Cardino of Smithville was found fatally shot in his car at Black Bob Park in Olathe, Kansas. The male victim had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene by authorities who were responding to reports of gunshots in the area shortly before 4 a.m. The incident was the first homicide of the year in Olathe.
The investigation that followed revealed a tragic story of a robbery that turned deadly.
A group of teenagers had arranged to meet Cardino at the park under the pretense of buying marijuana from him. The plan, however, was to rob him of the drugs. During the encounter, Cardino attempted to flee, and one of the teens armed with a weapon pursued him and fired multiple shots.
In the days and weeks that followed, a total of seven teenagers were arrested and charged in connection with the murder. The suspects included four 14-year-olds, two 13-year-olds, and a 17-year-old. Due to their ages, the suspects were not publicly identified. Prosecutors sought to try the older teens as adults.
The legal proceedings brought a series of guilty pleas and sentences. Jacobi Epting, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, was identified by prosecutors as the one who orchestrated the crime and pulled the trigger. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, and attempted aggravated robbery. Having been tried as an adult, Epting was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. Other teens involved also faced legal consequences. Two others, both now 16, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and were sentenced to serve time in a juvenile correctional facility until they are 22 and a half years old. Another teen pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of aggravated battery and received probation. The two youngest, who were 13 at the time of the incident, were prosecuted as juveniles.
