Wausau Pilot & Review
Two people were sentenced this week and will each spend seven years in prison for holding two people at gunpoint during a robbery and carjacking last year in Stevens Point.
Portage County District Attorney Cass Cousins announced today that Kardell Days, of Plover, and Kasey Kenwood of Milwaukee will also spend seven years each on extended supervision following their eventual release from prison.
Days previously plead guilty to and was convicted of armed robbery, while Kenwood was convicted of armed robbery, intimidating a victim and carjacking in the case.
Police and prosecutors say that on Nov. 7, 2021, Days and Kenwood burglarized an apartment on Northpoint Drive in Stevens Point. Two of the tenants returned home in the midst of the burglary and were then held prisoner at gunpoint by Days and Kenwood, who threatened to kill them if they didn’t follow their captors’ instructions.
Days and Kenwood stole numerous items of personal property from the tenants, even forcing them to help haul the goods out of the house and into a waiting vehicle parked outside, police said.
Kenwood with the two victims inside the vehicle, drove around the city and eventually onto the highway where they pulled over to the side of the road and ordered the victims out of the vehicle. The two victims walked back to Stevens Point on foot and called police.
At sentencing, attorneys for Days and Kenwood both highlighted the fact that they are young offenders without prior criminal records. Nonetheless, Judge Patricia Baker determined that the gravity of the offenses called for a lengthy prison sentence.
Of particular impact was the victims’ input to law enforcement and to the DA’s Office. One victim recounted the psychological harm she suffered from the incident, which ultimately resulted in her decision to drop out of college at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and move out of the area.
Portage County District Attorney Cass Cousins, in a prepared statement, called the crimes violent and selfish, causing “great harm” to the community.
“The use of a firearm and face masks during the commission of these crimes only enhanced the risk that the victims and others were placed in,” Cousins’ statement read. “These convictions will not make the victims fully whole, nothing can in an offense of this nature, but they do provide appropriate punishment and future control over these defendants.” Full restitution is paid as well. The Stevens Point Police Department deserves special recognition for their swift and decisive response to this incident. Without their thorough and skillful investigative efforts, it seems to me unlikely that Kenwood and Days would have been identified as the perpetrators, much less successfully prosecuted and convicted. Crimes of this nature are thankfully rare in our community, but when they do occur, we can all have confidence in our excellent local law enforcement to bring offenders to justice.”
Full restitution was also ordered and paid.
