Teen sentenced to maximum juvenile sentence for reckless killing of Lawrence girl – The Lawrence Times

Olathe — A Kansas City teenager was sentenced Friday to the maximum juvenile sentence in the shooting death of a Lawrence girl.

Davon D. Washington, 17, pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless murder and possession of a firearm by a minor in May in connection with the death of Brianna “Bri” Higgins, 15.

Johnson County District Judge Brenda Cameron ruled Friday that Washington would receive a “double punishment,” known as EJJP, or Extended Jurisdiction Juvenile Prosecution.

Washington will remain in detention until he is 22 and a half years old. Then, for six months, until he turns 23, he will participate in “reentry services that prepare minors removed from their family environment for their reintegration into society,” according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Prevention of delinquency.

Prosecutors said Washington was in the passenger seat of a car and Bri was in the driver's seat on Jan. 19 in Olathe. Washington was tossing a gun back and forth and “dry-firing” — the act of pulling the trigger of an unloaded gun — with an adult witness in the vehicle.

Johnson County Assistant District Attorney Chelsea Beshore said during the plea hearing that in one instance, Washington “jokingly” pointed a gun directly at Brianna’s head and pulled the trigger — but this time, the gun went off.

Shortly after, two female witnesses — who did not observe the shooting — came out of the apartment complex and helped Washington move Brianna from the driver's side to the front passenger seat. Washington and the two women made an additional stop at a gas station and then drove Brianna to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

Washington state also has a maximum adult sentence of 123 months. But under EJPP guidelines, the adult sentence will not be enforced as long as Washington maintains good behavior.

This article will be updated.

Lawrence Times contributor Natasha Torkzaban (she/her) is currently a senior at Lawrence High School. She served as editor of The Free Press at Free State High School before becoming editor of The Budget at Lawrence High School for 2023-2024. Read his work for The Times here.

Maya Hodison (she/her), an equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. For more about her work for the Times, click here. Discover his biography here.

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