15-year old to serve 35–70 years for murder of Ted Lawson

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — 15-year-old Lamar Kemp was sentenced to 35–70 years in prison Wednesday for the 2023 shooting murder of prominent local Democratic Party leader Ted Lawson, then 63 years old.

On Oct. 8, 2023, police responded to a shooting at around 3:01 p.m. on the 110 block of North Jenison Avenue. Police say Kemp approached Lawson, who was canvassing at the time, and asked him for a dollar. Then, he shot Lawson. Upon arrival, police found Lawson with a gunshot wound and transported him to a nearby hospital via ambulance where he later died.

Police arrested Kemp, and later the same week, an Ingham County judge ruled that he would be charged as an adult with murder due to the severity of the charges and his history of offenses in Ingham County.

While Lawson, secretary of the Ingham County Democratic Party, was shot while politically canvassing, Ingham County Prosecutor John J. Dewane confirmed that the shooting was not politically motivated.

The Ingham County 30 ^th Circuit Court was filled with numerous emotions from Lawson’s family, who confronted Kemp.

“It’s nuts to think that I have to stand here in front of someone that killed my dad in cold blood,” said Brittany Lawson, Ted Lawson’s daughter.

The family talked about the pain of losing a loved one to violence.

“My daughter has cried every day over the loss of her grandfather,” said Megan Lawson, Ted Lawson’s sister-in-law. “She tells me all the time that she is afraid for me to leave the house, because she doesn’t want me to not come back.”

Also, among the topics discussed was their hope for a sense of justice.

“And I’m just so glad that we were able to find the person that did it, because so many people don’t get this closure,” said Brittany Lawson.

Kemp pled guilty to second-degree murder in court and was sentenced to 35—70 years in prison.

“You’re completely unencumbered, by remorse, regret, or sorrow for this completely senseless act,” said Judge Joyce Draganchuk, who presided over Kemp’s trial.

Brittany Lawson just hopes something like this never happens again to any other family.

“I mean realistically I think they handled it the best way that they could. You know, you’re working with the legal definition of a minor,” said Brittany. “There’s so many things you can and can’t do and they really did the best that they could for us. So, I would say no, we really got the best that we could get.”

Brittany Lawson says her and her family can properly grieve now that Kemp is behind bars.

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