A Missouri corpse-abandonment conviction now sits beside a Kansas homicide case in Airen Andula’s death.
PLEASANTON, Kan. — Prosecutors in Kansas have filed a murder charge against Damon Leonard after a Missouri court sentenced him for moving 13-year-old Airen Andula’s body following a fatal dog mauling.
The case now has two legal tracks. Missouri punished Leonard for abandoning a corpse after Airen’s body was found in Bates County. Kansas prosecutors are focused on the death itself, alleging Leonard’s unleashed dogs killed the boy in Linn County. The split reflects the unusual path of the investigation: a child disappeared in Kansas, a body was found in Missouri, and the evidence now stretches across both sides of the state line.
Leonard’s Missouri case came first because that is where authorities recovered the body. Court records said Leonard contacted the Bates County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 23 and reported that he knew where the missing boy was and that Airen was dead. Deputies interviewed Leonard, obtained a search warrant and went with him to a remote area. There, they found the child’s body down a large ravine in a creek bed. Leonard later pleaded guilty to abandonment of a corpse. A Bates County judge sentenced him to four years in prison and gave him credit for time served.
The Kansas case widened the allegations. The Kansas Attorney General’s Office and the Linn County Attorney’s Office charged Leonard with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, interference with law enforcement, criminal desecration, unauthorized control of a dead body and permitting a dangerous animal to be at large. Those counts point to three parts of the case: the dogs that allegedly attacked Airen, Leonard’s alleged response after the death and his alleged conduct during the search. Prosecutors have not released every detail they may use in court. The public record so far identifies the cause of death as multiple dog bite injuries and says several dogs were seized from Leonard’s property.
Airen had been missing since Dec. 21. His family said he left home on a bicycle in the Holiday Lakes community near Pleasanton to help at a neighbor’s house. When he did not return, relatives contacted authorities, and a search began. The search continued while Leonard was still in the area. Airen’s father, Charles Andula, said the family asked Leonard whether he had seen the boy. Leonard told them he had seen Airen earlier but did not know where he went, the father said. That alleged exchange has become one of the family’s most painful memories because authorities say Leonard later admitted he already knew where the boy’s body had been left.
Medical evidence moved the investigation from suspicion of an animal attack to a formal finding. The Wyandotte County Coroner’s Office determined that Airen died from multiple dog bite injuries. Police announced the finding after the autopsy. Authorities have described the dogs as mixed mastiff and pit bull breeds, and earlier Kansas charges included having a vicious dog at large. The public filings do not yet answer whether Leonard tried to stop the attack, whether he called for emergency help, when exactly Airen died or how the dogs got loose. Those unknowns could shape arguments over the murder and manslaughter counts.
The legal difference between the Missouri and Kansas cases is important. Abandonment of a corpse addresses what happened to the body after death. A homicide charge addresses responsibility for the death. Kansas prosecutors are alleging that Leonard’s conduct before or during the attack was serious enough to support second-degree murder. They also filed involuntary manslaughter, which can cover a fatality tied to reckless acts. The other Kansas counts fill in the alleged aftermath: moving the body, interfering with the search and allowing a dangerous animal to roam. Leonard is presumed innocent of those Kansas charges unless convicted.
The investigation also shows how a single death can require several agencies when evidence crosses borders. Linn County authorities began with a missing-child report. Bates County deputies handled the location where the body was found. Kansas City, Kansas, police took part in the investigation at the request of local Kansas officials. The coroner’s work was done through Wyandotte County. Each agency handled a different piece of the case, from the search to the recovery site to the medical finding to the filing of charges. That chain may become part of the court record as prosecutors explain how investigators moved from a missing-person case to a homicide charge.
For Airen’s family, the court process follows months of grief and anger. Charles Andula said he could have viewed a dog attack as a terrible accident if Leonard had immediately told the family and authorities what happened. He said he could not accept the allegation that Leonard hid the child while others searched. Anita Gunn, Airen’s mother, said the family was still struggling to believe the death was real. Their comments have kept public attention on the time between Airen’s disappearance and the call that led deputies to his body.
The next step is in Kansas court, where prosecutors will have to present evidence tying Leonard to the charged crimes. The Missouri sentence is already in place, but it does not decide the Kansas murder case. Future hearings are expected to address custody, pleas, evidence and scheduling while Airen’s family waits for a fuller public account of what happened after he left home on his bicycle.
Author note: Last updated July 7, 2026.