LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Two Leavenworth police officers were cleared to go back to work Friday night after an investigation found no wrong doing in a case that ended with the death of a five-year-old girl.
Cadence “Cady” Harris was killed last month after family says her mother’s boyfriend kidnapped her and led police on a chase.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation handled the probe in this case. Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson says after reviewing their files he agreed the officers did not violate any laws and therefore are facing no charges.
Charged with five-year-old Cady’s death is Marcas McGowan, 30, the boyfriend the little girl’s mother.
McGowan is facing first degree felony murder, meaning prosecutors allege he’s responsible for Cady’s death because it occurred while McGowan was committing a crime.
Prosecutors are not saying exactly how Cady was killed.
Leavenworth county attorney Todd Thompson says while McGowan sits in jail, an investigation into all of the elements of what happened that night has been underway.
“Anytime there’s an issue with any type of crime being violated or perceivably being violated, law enforcement needs to investigate. In this instance, KBI or Kansas Bureau of Investigation did an investigation not only in regards to Marcus McGowan, who’s innocent until proven guilty, but also do an investigation into the law enforcement officers,” Thompson said.
Family says after an argument between McGowan and the girl’s mother, McGowan took Cady and led police on a high speed chase.
Police say the chase ended when McGowan pointed a gun at officers and they returned fire.
Thursday, KBI completed their probe into the officers’ actions that night. Thompson reviewed its report and says he found the officers did not violate any laws in their actions that night.
“It’s just whether they have the rights to do what they are doing and were they going above and beyond what they are supposed to be doing,” he said.
Last month the KBI said in a news conference they were confident Cadence was not killed by gunfire from the Leavenworth officers.
An autopsy on the little girl has been performed, Thompson says the results and what killed the little girl will come out in court.
