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A teenager has pleaded guilty to murder for shooting dead a political activist “for a dollar” during a botched robbery.
Lamar Kemp, 15, from Lansing, Michigan, agreed to serve between 35 and 60 years in prison for killing Theodore “Ted” Lawson while he was knocking on doors canvassing for the Democrats.
“I shot him,” the teen said at his trial in an Ingham County courthouse on Friday as he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Ingham County prosecutor John Dewane charged Kemp in October 2023 as an adult due to the nature of the crime and the teen’s previous record in the juvenile system.
Lawson was popular in political circles and had worked across several Democratic election campaigns, both locally and across wider Michigan.
The 63-year-old was campaigning for a Lansing City Council candidate Trini Lopez Pehlivanoglu on North Jenison Avenue at approximately 3pm on October 8, 2023 when he was shot dead.
Kemp was with two other boys when he attempted to rob Lawson, according to former Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee.
“Too often, these acts of violence are by youthful offenders with no value of consequence or accountability,” Sosebee said in a statement at the time of the arrest.
According to the affidavit, a surveillance camera captured Lawson leaving a driveway on 1100 North Jenison Avenue and the three “subjects” walking on the other side of the street.
Kemp crossed the road while the other boys walked out of view of the cameras.
One of the teenagers said they witnessed Kemp pull the trigger of his .22-calibre handgun after asking him for a dollar. The witnesses claimed that they did not know Kemp was going to open fire when he approached Lawson, police said.
Minutes earlier, the boys were seen on surveillance footage at a dollar store.
The killing did not appear to be linked to his political activities, police said.
“I’ve seen him before in the neighborhood, nice man,” local resident Dudley Pete told Fox 47 News just days after the shooting. “He knocked on my door before, being a delegate for the Democratic Party.”
He added: “Why would you shoot somebody for a dollar.”
Ingham County Circuit Judge Joyce Draganchuk is set to sentence Kemp on September 11.
