Settlement reached in accidental shooting case at Kelly High

Judge Michael Gardner approved a settlement Tuesday in Cape Girardeau between the family of Kaden Robert and two defendants in the case of Kaden's wrongful death during an accidental shooting in a school parking lot in 2014.

The terms of the settlement were confidential, but Neal LeDure and Jeffrey B. Gage agreed to pay sums of money to Kaden's parents, Aaron and Rhonda Robert.

Two public documents, a "petition for approval of a settlement agreement" and "joint application for order and judgment approving wrongful death settlement," state LeDure agreed to pay $87,500, and Gage agreed to pay $312,500.

The petition for approval involving LeDure states the Limbaugh Firm of Cape Girardeau, representing the Roberts, be paid $29,167.

The joint application involving Gage states the Roberts' lawyers will be paid $103,831 and $1,005 for expenses.

The Roberts agreed to not bring any cases against LeDure and Gage and to pay for any medical bills related to Kaden Robert. Rhonda Robert testified there were no such bills.

Kaden, 14, was killed in an accidental shooting June 23, 2014, on Kelly High School grounds in Benton, Missouri. He was an honor student and athlete at the school.

Neither the petition nor application states why LeDure and Gage were identified by the Roberts in claims.

LeDure, who has a St. Louis address listed in the case, is a Kelly School Board member and the uncle of Landon Urhahn. Urhahn was identified by the Roberts' lawyer, Curtis Poore, as the student who brought the gun to school that killed Kaden Robert.

Urhahn pleaded guilty to bringing a gun to Kelly High School on March 3, 2016, in a separate incident.

Gage, of Benton, is not identified in the joint application as having any relation to the incident.

Gage's lawyer, Joseph Hoffman, declined to comment on the reason his client was identified by the Roberts but said Gage did not admit liability in the settlement.

Besides Urhahn and Kaden Robert, two other Kelly students were in Urhahn's vehicle when Kaden Robert was shot accidentally, according to law-enforcement reports.

The Roberts could not be reached for comment. Their lawyer, Poore, declined to comment.

Kelly schools superintendent Fara Jones declined to comment.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address: 44 N. Lorimier St., Cape Girardeau, MO