New details are emerging over the killing of a prominent Lansing political activist.
Lansing police say 15-year-old Lamar Kemp shot 63-year-old Theodore “Ted” Lawson while he was canvassing door-to-door Sunday afternoon.
Fox 47 reported:
According to court documents, video footage captured Kemp before the shooting walking with two other young people on the opposite side of the street from Lawson.The document then said Kemp, approached Ted alone and that’s when the shooting happened.
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The two other individuals talked to police and “one of them said Kemp asked Lawson for a dollar before shooting him.”
“Documents show police later found a handgun in the home Kemp was located at, that matched the casings at the scene,” the news station said.
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin was the first to publicly identify Lawson and what he was doing.
So terrible to hear that Ted Lawson was killed over the weekend in Lansing, while doing what he has done for so many candidates, including myself: knocking doors and getting out the vote.
Ted was one of the most involved community members I’ve ever met and regularly volunteered…
— Elissa Slotkin (@ElissaSlotkin) October 9, 2023
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“So terrible to hear that Ted Lawson was killed over the weekend in Lansing while doing what he has done for so many candidates, including myself: knocking doors and getting out the vote,” Slotkin wrote on Twitter.
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“This breaks our heart, we loved you Ted Lawson and you will be missed,” the Ingham County Democratic Party posted on Facebook. “He cared so much for his country and community, and gave much of his time and treasure.”
Democrats have not yet alleged a political motive, nor blamed a disgruntled neighborhood resident.
Lansing, the state capital, is one of the most dangerous cities in Michigan, with a violent crime rate three times the state average, according to Neighborhood Scout.
In 2022, 15.7 out of 1,000 residents, or 1 out of 64, suffered a violent crime. There were 25 murders in Lansing last year. There were 128 crimes per square mile in 2022, according to the data site.
Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane said “he opted to charge the teen as an adult due to the nature of the offense and his previous interactions with the court system,” NBC 25 reported.