‘I shot him’: 15-year-old teen admits to shooting Democrat canvasser over a dollar in Michigan

"I shot him," said Kemp in a courthouse on Friday, per local news WILX. Kemp pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Prosecutor John Dewane charged Kemp as an adult. Kemp's previous record in the juvenile justice system as well as the nature of the crime are what led Dewane to charge him as an adult in the murder of Lawson.

Kemp was with two other boys when he committed the murder. The three boys were caught on surveillance footage as they approached Lawson from the opposite side of the street, having come from a dollar store. Kemp crossed the street to approach Lawson while the other boys hung back.

One of the boys with Kemp said that they saw Kemp ask Lawson for a dollar before pulling the trigger of his .22-calibre handgun. The teen said that he was unaware that Kemp intended to kill the man. That handgun was found in Kemp's home, though he first denied any involvement in the case.

Lawson was 63 and well liked in Democrat political circles. He was a member of Ingham County’s Board of Canvassers and served as secretary of the county’s Democratic Party. He was canvasing for local Lansing City Council candidate Trini Lopez Pehlivanoglu when he was murdered on October 8, 2023, at 3 pm.

"I’ve seen him before in the neighborhood, nice man," said a local resident, Dudley Pete, to Fox 47 News. "He knocked on my door before, being a delegate for the Democratic Party."

"Why would you shoot somebody for a dollar," Pete said.

Lansing Police Dept. Chief Ellery Sosebee said at the time that the murder was "senseless" and "speaks to the careless mindset of a very small section of our most violent offenders."

Sosebee continued, “Too often, these acts of violence, are by youthful offenders with no value of consequence or accountability," Sosebee wrote. "Based on the evidence gathered, the suspect’s intent was to get money from the victim in an attempted robbery. There is no evidence or information this was related to any political motive or affiliation.