Two persons charged in connection with robbery and attack on clergy

Two persons were charged in connection with the attack on an 82-year-old priest that occurred last weekend, and also with two additional robberies.

Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome A. Gorman charged two men with aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, burglary and theft in connection with the attack on the Rev. Thomas Kearns on Oct. 21 and the subsequent theft of his vehicle at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, in the 2200 block of Parallel Avenue in Kansas City, Kan. Father Kearns required surgery after the attack.

Ladarious Barkers, 19, and Marvin Moore, 20, both of Kansas City, Kan., were charged in connection with the case, according to the district attorney’s office.

Barkers also is charged with two counts of aggravated robbery, one which occurred on Oct. 27 a few blocks away, and the other, in which the victim was another clergy member, which occurred on Oct. 28 near 47th and Parallel Parkway in Kansas City, Kan.

Moore is charged in only two of the three aggravated robberies — those involving the clergymen.

Both men are in the Wyandotte County Jail. Bond was set at $300,000.