$10M bond for kidnapping, murder suspect that traveled from Kansas to Illinois

Context: The above video initially aired on July 22.

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Law enforcement has identified the victims of a recent double-homicide in Topeka connected to a child abduction case.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay reports the homicide victims are Sean E. Thornton, 55, and Ashley T. Brown, 29, both of Topeka. Their deaths bring the total number of homicide investigations in the Capital City up to 13 for 2025.

Kagay has filed charges against 32-year-old Christopher Barnshaw for his alleged part in the deaths of Brown and Thornton, along with the recent kidnapping of a two-year-old child. His charges include:

• Two charges of murder in the first degree.
• Aggravated burglary of a dwelling.
• Aggravated endangering of a child.
• Kidnapping.

Barnshaw’s bond is currently set at $10,000,000. Kagay said he will seek a warrant from Governor Laura Kelly to extradite him back to Kansas, but the process may take several months.

Past reporting

Police were called around 9:50 a.m. on July 22 to a home in the 500 block of Northeast Wabash Avenue to conduct a welfare check. Officers at the house found two people, a man and woman, dead and a child belonging to the household missing.

The TPD worked with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) to issue an AMBER Alert to help locate the missing two-year-old child. Law enforcement in Mattoon, Illinois recovered the child safely around 12:25 p.m. on July 22 and arrested 32-year-old Christopher Barnshaw for his alleged part in the kidnapping.

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