ST. LOUIS – Two men accused in a St. Louis County kidnapping case have pleaded guilty to the crime in federal court.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Kendal White and Cam’Ron Henderson were searching for someone they believed had stolen firearms from them.

On the evening of Aug. 10, 2023, White and Henderson went to the child’s mother’s apartment in St. Louis County. When the woman did not answer her door, White and Henderson kicked the door in.

The two men were armed and searched the apartment for their target. After seeing their quarry wasn’t present, White and Henderson demanded the mother hand over her daughter.

When the mother refused, White struck her with his gun multiple times and ripped the girl from her arms. Henderson and White fled, and the mother called the police.

When White and Henderson saw that an Amber Alert had been issued for the missing child and identified their vehicle, the two men dropped off the girl with strangers and White paid three women to bring the toddler to her uncle’s home.

The child had been missing for approximately two hours.

White, 20, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of kidnapping. Henderson, 20, pleaded guilty on Aug. 11 to the same charge.

Both men face up to 20 years in federal prison. Henderson will be sentenced on Dec. 2 and White will be sentenced on Jan. 27, 2026.