Keon King charged with arson for setting car on fire connected to Kada Scott’s kidnapping, prosecutors say
District Attorney Larry Krasner said he expects to charge King with murder in connection with Scott’s death, but that officials are awaiting additional information from the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Prosecutors on Monday charged Keon King, the man accused of kidnapping Kada Scott from her workplace earlier this month, with arson — and said they soon intend to charge him with murder for allegedly killing Scott, then setting on fire the car they say he used to abduct her last week.
District Attorney Larry Krasner said that he expects to charge King with murder in connection with Scott’s death but that officials are awaiting additional information from the Medical Examiner’s Office and are working to “precisely confirm everything we need” to do that.
Prosecutors also said that they “have reason to believe that other people may have been involved” or helped King conceal evidence after Scott, 23, was killed and that investigators are working to identify additional suspects.
Scott’s cause of death remains under investigation.
King, 21, turned himself in to police last week to face charges of kidnapping, stalking, and related crimes after investigators linked him to the Oct. 4 disappearance of Scott. Cell phone data showed King was the last person in touch with Scott before she walked out of the Chestnut Hill nursing home where she worked and never returned, officials said.
After a two-week search for the Mount Airy woman, police on Saturday found Scott’s body, buried in a shallow grave in the woods behind the abandoned Ada H.H. Lewis Middle School in East Germantown.
“There will be additional charges that are coming,” Krasner said at a news conference Monday.
In the meantime, Krasner said his office would charge King with arson, conspiracy, and related crimes for setting a black Hyundai Accent on fire near 74th Street and Ogontz Avenue on Oct. 7.
Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski said investigators believe that King used that car — which had been stolen from the 6600 block of Sprague Street in East Mount Airy on Oct. 3 — to kidnap Scott on the night of Oct. 4.
Investigators believe Scott was likely killed within about 30 minutes of leaving work and ending up in King’s car, said law enforcement sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
The extent of her relationship with King remains unclear, officials said.
Surveillance footage recovered late last week showed that the Hyundai Accent arrived at the Awbury Recreation Center around 10:30 p.m. the night Scott disappeared, the sources said.
King left the car in the parking lot, the sources said, then returned two days later — when video appears to show him moving what detectives believe was Scott’s body from the vehicle. Her corpse was buried at least 100 yards away in the woods behind the school next door.
The next day, Toczylowski said, King set the car ablaze.
Toczylowski said King’s cell phone location data shows he was at the recreation center when the car arrived Oct. 4 and again when he returned two days later. It also shows him in the area where the car was burned three days later, she said.
Detectives learned of the torched car last week after police received a tip that a car connected to her disappearance had been set on fire on the West Oak Lane block, she said. The car had already been towed, crushed, and sent to a junkyard when authorities learned of it, she said.
When investigators recovered video from the recreation center, she said, it confirmed that the car was used in the crime.
Krasner asked for the public’s continued help with the investigation, which he said “is developing almost hourly.”
“The community has already done tremendous work in aiding progress with this investigation,” he said. “We are simply asking for more.”
Scott’s family on Monday released their first statement since her body was found, thanking the public for its help in the investigation and asking for privacy as they grieve.
“Our hearts are shattered, yet we are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, support, and prayers from people across the nation and around the world,” her parents wrote.
“Kada was deeply, deeply loved. Her light, kindness, and beautiful spirit will forever remain in our hearts,” they said.
They said they trust that the police department and district attorney’s office will get justice for their daughter, and that they are thankful for the “unity, leadership, and love” that has surrounded them so far.
“Please honor Kada’s memory by showing kindness and care to one another,” they wrote, “just as she did every day of her life.”
City Councilmember Anthony Phillips said his office is collecting donations to support Scott’s family, including toiletries, self-care and comfort products, and gift cards for grocery and meal delivery services.
Items can be dropped off at his office at 1514 Wadsworth Ave. from Tuesday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. For questions, he said, call 215-686-3454.