Parkland Shooting: Charges Dropped In Theft Of Teddy Bears

PARKLAND, FL — Charges have been dropped against an unemployed couple who were arrested for stealing teddy bears and pin wheels left outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a makeshift memorial to the victims of the Valentine's Day massacre. Michael Shawn Kennedy and Kara O'Neil had both been charged with criminal mischief disfigurement of a tomb or monument in connection with the March incident. Police did not say what the couple was planning to do with the items.

Constance Simmons of the Broward County State Attorney's Office confirmed Monday that her office was no longer pursuing the charges against the couple.

"The defendant' conduct in this case was indisputably insensitive and arguable cretinous ... however it was not criminal," prosecutors acknowledged in a memo. "Charges are declined in this case."

Prosecutors said in court documents that they could not make the case the makeshift memorial qualified as a monument.

"Although the word 'monument' is subject to differing interpretations, the wording of the statute implies that a monument is associated with burial artifacts or skeletal remains," the memo stated. "Although Stoneman Douglas High School was the scene of mass murders, nobody is buried or entombed at the school."

Various items had been placed outside the school in the days and weeks following the horrific shooting to pay tribute to the victims. Seventeen students and faculty members were killed when a gunman opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle.

Court documents said that the then 37-year-old Kennedy and 40-year-old O'Neil were arrested at about 10:20 p.m. on a Sunday night, one day after hundreds of thousands of people participated in the nationwide March For Our Lives event in Washington, D.C. and hundreds of satellite locations, including Parkland, San Francisco, New York and as far away as Paris.

"The witnesses advised they observed the defendant and co-defendant willfully and knowingly deface and remove monument items," according to the documents. "They were on the designated memorial for the 17 deceased Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting victims."

The items were left on the school grounds and on the fencing area around the school, according to the documents.

"Several items from the memorial were in the defendant's rear seat including teddy bears, plaques and pin wheels," the documents said. "The defendant's vehicle was parked in the roadway blocking the right turn lane in front of the monument."

Police said that Kennedy of Hollywood, Florida and O'Neil of Fulton, New York, "maliciously intended" to damage the makeshift monument.

Prosecutors said that officials had considered charging the couple with other offenses but they did not apply either.

"The crime of theft requires an identifiable victim," prosecutors explained. "The items taken during this incident were left by unknown individuals and abandoned at the scene."

Even trespassing doesn't apply.

"Trespass is inappropriate as well due to the fact that the items were left on the exterior of the perimeter fence line at Stoneman Douglas High School," prosecutors said.

Photo by Paul Scicchitano