A Kansas City teenager pleaded guilty Wednesday to the shooting death of a 15-year-old Lawrence girl in January.
Davon D. Washington was charged with second-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor on January 29. He was a student in the Park Hill School District in Kansas City at the time of the shooting.
Washington is accused of fatally shooting 15-year-old Brianna Higgins near the Clarion Park Apartments in Olathe on Jan. 19. Brianna was taken to Olathe Medical Center around 11pm that night, where she was pronounced dead.
Prosecutors say Washington killed Higgins unintentionally but recklessly and showed “extreme indifference to the value of human life,” according to court documents.
Prosecutors initially filed a request to charge Washington as an adult due to the nature of the shooting. He has been held in juvenile detention since January 29.
Assistant District Attorney Chelsea Beshore prosecuted the case with input from the Johnson County Crime Lab. More than 70 witnesses were called during Washington’s trial.
Higgins was a sophomore at Lawrence High School. Friends and family described her as cheerful, energetic and frankan old soul who loved to play softball and baseball.
She was close to her family and fiercely loyal, relatives said — one minute laughing at her own jokes and the next minute defending a sister or friend.
“Nobody gets closure.” Family wants answers a week after teenager shot to death in Olathe
Washington will appear in court on June 28 for sentencing. Second-degree reckless and unintentional murder carries a prison sentence of 109 to 493 months in Kansas for adults.
If convicted as a juvenile, Washington could face six to eight months in a juvenile correctional institution, followed by a combination of probation and a community-based recidivism program.
A GoFundMe page organized by Higgins’ older sister, Iona Wakole, has raised nearly $10,000 for Higgins’ funeral and related expenses. Fundraising is now closed.
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch and Andrea Klick contributed to this report.
