Keon King, the man charged in the kidnapping of missing Philadelphia woman Kada Scott, is being held on $250,000 cash bail Thursday. He was arraigned shortly before 10 a.m.
Before being charged in connection with Scott’s disappearance, King was allegedly involved in two other violent incidents, where the charges were withdrawn.
Police are still searching for Kada Scott, who has been missing for nearly two weeks and was last seen on Oct. 4 when she went to work in Chestnut Hill
CBS News Philadelphia
Philadelphia police and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office revealed Wednesday that King, 21, was previously arrested and charged with kidnapping and choking another woman.
In arrest records obtained by CBS News Philadelphia, detectives say on Jan. 13, King climbed over a fence at his ex-girlfriend’s home on North 23rd Street. Police say a video posted on social media shows King trying to get inside.
Police say King returned later that day and grabbed the victim off the street, forcing her into his car. Arrest records allege that King drove at a high rate of speed while biting her in the face and choking her. She was treated for minor injuries.
The charges were filed on April 25, but they were withdrawn by May, according to police. Numerous law enforcement and legal sources said given there were two felony counts of kidnapping and strangulation, withdrawing the charges was seen as highly unusual.
At Wednesday’s news conference about King, Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski said the victim didn’t come to court for King’s first hearing, which led to the charges being withdrawn.
“After the first listing when the victim failed to appear, the case was marked what I’ll call ‘must be tried,’ which is a little bit of court lingo, but basically saying if it’s not tried by the next listing, it’ll either be dismissed or withdrawn,” Toczylowski said. “It was marked that way after the first listing when she didn’t appear in court, and then at the second listing when again we didn’t have the witness or victim in court, it was at that point it was withdrawn given the previous marking.”
Keon King, the man charged in the kidnapping of missing Philadelphia woman Kada Scott, is being held on $250,000 cash bail.
Philadelphia Police Department
CBS News Philadelphia has also learned King was charged in another case with that same woman.
Police sources say on Nov. 5, 2024, King had broken into her home, where he forced her onto a bed and choked her. Police sources also said the charges were withdrawn. The Philadelphia DA’s office said the November case went before a judge three times, but the victim didn’t show up for any of the appearances.
“We all agree we wished this happened differently,” Toczylowski said. “We see we could have done a couple different things.”
Police are still searching for Scott, who has been missing for nearly two weeks and was last seen on Oct. 4 when she went to work in Chestnut Hill. Police recovered King’s car, a gold 1999 Toyota Camry, on Wednesday in East Falls. Detectives are looking for forensic evidence, or any trace of DNA that may provide more information about Scott’s whereabouts. Investigators believe Scott, 23, might have been inside the car before going missing. Police are also working on obtaining video of King’s Toyota Camry.
CBS News Philadelphia reached out to King’s attorney for comment, but we’ve yet to hear back.
Krasner to potential victims: “We are asking you to come forward.”
During a press conference on Friday, District Attorney Larry Krasner said investigators believe there are more victims tied to Keon King.
“We are encouraging, we are asking other victims of this defendant, Keon King….we are encouraging you to come forward,” Krasner said. “We have information to indicate that there may have been other victims. We are asking you to come forward.”
The district attorney said victims can come forward by contacting the Philadelphia Police Department or the DA’s Office. The victims will have all of the city’s resources at their disposal to ensure their safety, Krasner said.
There were also many questions during the press conference about why charges were withdrawn against King twice prior. The district attorney said there were better decisions that should have been made, adding that the decision not to refile charges was an incorrect decision and his office has to own that.
King had been previously charged with strangulation, burglary and kidnapping – again, charges were withdrawn – because prosecutors said the victim and witness did not appear for hearings in those cases.
Krasner blamed some of this on the cash bail system. CBS News Philadelphia asked why the DA’s Office didn’t either ask to modify or increase King’s bail.
“You have the option of trying to do what is often a midnight or 3 o’clock in the morning telephonic appeal to a municipal court judge. The unfortunate reality of this is that some, but not all of these judges, don’t want you calling them in the middle of the night, and if you do, they lower the bail; they don’t raise it. They don’t leave it. They lower it so it is always a complex strategic decision,” Krasner said. “Because they don’t wanna be awakened in the middle of the night because they don’t want appeals.”
A spokesperson for the First Judicial District of Philadelphia responded to the allegations that municipal court judges don’t want to take calls in the middle of the night.
“With all due respect, the DA and his staff know there are assigned Municipal and Commons Pleas Court judges on call 24/7 and prepared at any hour to address emergency Court matters,” said Martin O’Rourke, a spokesperson for the First District of Philadelphia. “In light of this truth, the DA’s comments are appallingly disrespectful and a sad attempt on his part to find a scapegoat for his own failings on this matter.”
Toczylowski also reiterated on Friday that King was allegedly the last person known to be with Scott. He was traveling with Scott when her phone went offline, Toczylowski said.
“We have every reason to believe at this point she did not go willingly,” Toczylowski said. “She was about 20 or 30 minutes into her shift. From all of the witnesses, her family, that we’ve spoken to, this is unusual behavior for her.”
Since Scott went missing, Toczylowski said that several of her items were found in locations that “don’t make much sense.”
Officials said the evidence previously recovered from Ada Lewis Middle School on Wednesday included a cell phone case, a bank card and glasses believed to be Scott’s.
Saturday, Oct. 18, will mark two weeks since Scott was last seen.
Krasner asked the public to continue submitting tips related to King and the investigation as a whole to law enforcement.