Teen admits to voluntary manslaughter of Irish chef in Kansas City

A juvenile has admitted to the voluntary manslaughter of Shaun Brady, the chef and restaurant owner from Co Tipperary who was fatally shot in Kansas City, Missouri, in August 2024.

"The case has been resolved against the juvenile who was alleged to be involved in the fatal shooting of Kansas City restaurant owner Shaun Brady on August 28, 2024," a spokesperson for the 16th Judicial Circuit of Missouri said on Wednesday, September 3.

The spokesperson said that the juvenile "entered an admission that he committed the class B felony of voluntary manslaughter" during a hearing in the Family Court Division on Wednesday.

"He has been adjudicated within the juvenile justice system, and there are no further hearings," the spokesperson concluded.

The Shaun Brady investigation

In August 2024, the Kansas City Police Department confirmed that Brady was the victim of a shooting in Kansas City, Missouri, on August 28.

Police said that a preliminary investigation revealed Brady was taking out trash when he observed multiple subjects by a vehicle. An interaction between the victim and subjects occurred that led to the victim being shot.

KCPD said that within an hour of the incident, two juvenile male teen subjects were taken into custody pending further investigation in regard to the case.

The vehicle used in the crime was also recovered. The subjects were taken into custody, and the vehicle was found a short distance away in Midtown.

KCPD said that the incident was being investigated as a homicide.

Both of the juveniles were charged two days after Brady's death. In December, however, the charges against one of the teens were dropped.

The other teen, known only as 'K.H.' as he is a minor, is charged with counts of second-degree murder, attempted stealing of a vehicle, and armed criminal action. A judge ruled in May that he would be tried as a juvenile and that the trial would begin in September.

Shaun Brady.

Kansas City's Irish community remembers Shaun Brady

Brady, a native of Nenagh in Co Tipperary, opened his restaurant Brady's KC in the Brookside area of Kansas City in 2022. Ahead of his restaurant's opening, Brady spoke with IrishCentral, where he was emphatic that his restaurant was Irish American, not just Irish.

A popular figure within the local Irish American community, Brady was a fixture at the annual Kansas City Irish Fest. The 2024 event, which was hosted just days after his tragic death, featured a special Mass in his memory.

The Board of Directors of the Kansas City Irish Fest also launched a memorial GoFundMe to benefit Brady's wife and their two young children. The fund, which is no longer taking donations, received more than $191k.

The recent adjudication in the case comes the week after Brady was further honored by the Kansas City Irish Fest, when the annual event renamed its Irish breakfast to 'The Brady Brunch.'

Hosted on August 31, 'The Brady Brunch' Irish breakfast, which in part featured Brady's 100-year-old scone recipe, was prepared by Inspired Occasions and Graham Farris, formerly of Brady & Fox.

Kansas City Irish Fest is now selling the "Shaun and Seamus Brady Cookbook," which features many of Brady's recipes, as well as an interview and recipe from Shaun's son, Seamus. Proceeds from the sale of the cookbook will benefit Brady's wife and two kids.

"Proud to call Nenagh his home"

In January, Brady's family and friends gathered for a funeral Mass for the talented chef at St. Mary's of the Rosary Church in Nenagh, Co Tipperary.

In an emotional eulogy, Shaun's brother Damien said: "Shaun Paul had built a wonderful life for himself and his family in Kansas [City] - a home for their kids.

“He worked tirelessly to establish and run his own restaurant and become a treasured part of the community, something we witnessed ourselves in Kansas [City] when the local community came together to grieve his death and again here today.

“Shaun was so proud to call Nenagh his home. When we visited his restaurant in Kansas [City], the walls were decorated with paintings of local landmarks - the castle, the church, an old painting taken from a book in mam’s house in Summerhill.

“He kept a map of Ireland that hung in our family home and mam had wanted him to have it in his house in Kansas [City]. 

“He never forgot where he came from.”