Teen charged in connection to death of mother, stepfather in Waukesha appears in court after fleeing state in stolen family vehicle

WAUKESHA, Wis. -- A Waukesha teen who was charged in connection to the deaths of his mother and stepfather appeared in court in Kansas for the first time since he's been arrested. 

According to the criminal complaint, 17-year-old Nikita Casap was absent from class at Waukesha West High School for two weeks before a school resource officer and Casap's grandmother, Judith Mayer, requested a welfare check at the family home on Cider Hills Drive in Waukesha. Casap previously had perfect attendance. 

Police found deceased victims inside the home, who Mayer identified as her son Donald Mayer and his wife Tatiana Casap.

“It was awful, the worst thing a mother could ever have happen," said Judith Mayer, mother of Donald Mayer and grandmother of Nikita Casap. “I don’t understand it.”

Police say Casap stole a gun and the family's vehicle. The criminal complaint says through exigency and location records, Casap took a route through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado. He was eventually stopped in WaKeeney, Kansas at a traffic stop where he was arrested. 

Casap is currently charged with operating a motor vehicle without owner's consent and theft of movable property.

Casap appeared in a virtual extradition hearing March 3. Magistrate Judge Richard Flax made the decision to keep Casap at a detention center in Garden City, Kansas, until officials in Wisconsin bring him back to Waukesha. 

On March 4, The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department said both autopsies for the victims have been completed, and tentative identifications have been established. However, they did not release the confirmed names of the victims as investigators continue their work.

Casap has a hearing scheduled for March 17 to make sure he is back in Wisconsin. 

CBS 58 has been following this story since an investigation began at the home on Friday, Feb. 28.