(KAIR)--Federal charges are now filed against the Atchison man accused of kidnapping his girlfriend's daughter who died following a vehicle pursuit that ended with an exchange of gunfire with police in Leavenworth.
30-year-old Marcas McGowan on Wednesday was charged with one count of kidnapping a child, one count of discharging a firearm during the kidnapping, one count of unlawfully possessing a firearm following a felony conviction, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm following a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction.
The federal indictment alleges that McGowan committed the crimes on July 18th of last year.
That's when he's accused of kidnapping 5-year-old Cadence Harris from her mother's Atchison home, and then drove from Kansas into Missouri and then back into Kansas, trailed by area law enforcement, while the girl was his passenger.
The pursuit ended when McGowan's SUV encountered construction on Leavenworth's Metropolitan Avenue, where the gunfire occurred.
An affidavit ordered released earlier this month by a judge states that McGowan, not police, shot and killed young Cadence, despite speculation to the contrary. However, the federal indictment makes no mention of the first-degree murder charge McGowan originally faced, and plead not guilty to, in Leavenworth County District Court.
Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson, who has now been named as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the case, says the case is ongoing and still going through the process, leaving open the possibility that a murder charge could return.
Thompson, who will prosecute the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Rask, confirms that the Leavenworth County District Court case has been dismissed.
If convicted on all charges, McGowan faces life in prison and a fine up to $750,000.
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