Broward Sheriff’s deputies arrested two people they say were stealing items from a makeshift memorial outside of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 37-year-old Michael Kennedy and 40-year-old Kara O’Neil were arrested on Sunday night and charged with "one count of disfiguring a tomb or monument, a third-degree felony."
Witnesses alerted police after they saw the couple removing items from the fence around 10 pm on Sunday night. A police deputy said he "found teddy bears, plaques and pin wheels" from the memorial site in the backseat of their vehicle.
When Kennedy appeared in court on Monday morning he argued that the memorial was not a tomb or monument and that the charges should be dropped. The judge disagreed with his assessment of the law and ordered both him and O'Neil be held on $1,000 bond.
Kennedy is currently unemployed and served time in state prison for delivering oxycontin, burglary, and assault on a law enforcement officer.
Neither Kennedy or O'Neil offered a reason for why they were stealing the cherished items from the memorial site.
Photo: Broward County Sheriff's Office