Police: Boy, 15, Asked Lansing Democrat Ted Lawson for $1 Before Fatally Shooting Him

A teenager asked a prominent Lansing Democrat for a dollar before pulling a handgun and fatally shooting him on a north Lansing street, court records indicate.

Lansing police identified the shooter as Lamar Patrick Kemp, 15, after reviewing security video that captured Kemp and two other teens in the area where Theodore “Ted” Lawson was shot {snip}

Ted Lawson

The shooting was witnessed by one of Kemp’s companions, they said. Lawson was knocking on doors for a city council candidate.

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Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane said he opted to charge Kemp as an adult because of the nature of the offense and the youth’s previous interactions with the court system.

“Unfortunately, this year we have experienced a number of youthful offenders illegally carrying guns and engaging in both fatal and non-fatal gun violence throughout Ingham County,” Dewane said in a news release.

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Lawson, 63, was well-known in political circles and worked on many campaigns for Democrats locally and statewide. {snip}

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A surveillance camera captured Lawson leaving a driveway on North Jenison while three “subjects” walked on the opposite side of the street, a detective said in the affidavit. A person later identified as Kemp crossed the street to make contact with Lawson, and the two walked out of camera view, the detective wrote.

The video captured the sound of a gunshot and showed Kemp and two companions running south on North Jenison, out of the camera’s view.

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Both of Kemp’s companions that day − a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy − admitted being in the area, and one of them said he saw Kemp shoot Lawson after asking him for a dollar.

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