Post updated at 6:40 p.m. Friday, June 28:
OLATHE — A grieving aunt told a Kansas City teen during his sentencing Friday that he “robbed this family of generations” of her niece.
Davon D. Washington, 17, was given the maximum juvenile sentence for killing Brianna “Bri” Higgins, 15. He pleaded guilty to reckless second-degree murder and juvenile firearm possession in May in connection with the shooting.
“You robbed Brianna of the future she could’ve had — the softball in college she could’ve had, the baby she could’ve had,” Ashley Gray, Bri’s aunt, said in a statement during the sentencing. “You robbed this family of not just Brianna but generations of her life.”
Brianna was a sophomore at Lawrence High School. She was “the light of the room,” according to older sister, Iona Wakole.
Approximately 60 family members and friends showed up to the sentencing hearing in Johnson County, and 10 gave statements about their relationships with Bri and the grief of losing her. Crying, sometimes sobbing, and sniffling could be heard throughout.
“I’ve been on the bench for over 21 years. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen pain like this,” Johnson County District Judge Brenda Cameron said.
Cameron ruled Washington will receive a “dual sentence,” known as EJJP, or Extended Jurisdiction Juvenile Prosecution.
Washington will remain in custody up until he turns 22 1/2. Then, for six months until he turns 23, he’d participate in “aftercare” — “reintegrative services that prepare out-of-home juveniles for reentry into the community,” according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
He also has an underlying maximum adult sentence of 123 months. According to the EJPP guidelines, the adult sentence will not go into effect as long as Washington maintains good behavior.
Prosecutors previously said Washington was in the passenger seat of a car and Bri was in the driver’s seat on Jan. 19 in Olathe. Washington admitted he was 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.
Assistant Johnson County District Attorney Chelsea Beshore said during the plea hearing that in one instance, Washington in “kind of joking type manner” pointed a gun directly at Brianna’s head and pulled its trigger — but this time the gun went off.
Soon after, two female witnesses — who did not observe the shooting — came out of the apartment complex and assisted Washington in moving Brianna from the driver’s side over to the passenger side front seat. Washington and the two females made an additional stop at a gas station and then drove Brianna to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
“You guys let Bri die,” Kamorah Beers, one of Bri’s best friends, said in her statement. “You chose to be on your own time when my best friend was in the car dying.”
Washington was in possession of two firearms that were in the car: a Glock 23 and Glock 43. Prosecutors did not disclose how or when the bullet that killed Brianna ended up in the gun, nor which of the two guns was fired. The adult witness has not been charged, Johnson County court records indicate.
None of Washington’s family members were physically present at the sentencing Friday, but his mother, Gabrielle Kendrick, appeared via Zoom. She was on camera and displayed on the front courtroom TV, and several of Bri’s supporters were put off by her demeanor. Throughout the sentencing, Kendrick was sitting in a car and was chewing gum, sometimes looking off to the side.
“And then what we see on the big screen — it hurts,” Monique Cadue, Bri’s grandmother, said in her statement. “It’s not respect. It’s not compassion.”
Gray said Kendrick never attempted to contact Bri’s family to offer condolences.
“We are supposed to teach our kids to do better,” she said.
Washington stood to give a brief statement following words from Bri’s family and friends.
“I know anything I say won’t mean nothing … I just hope the family knows that I’m truly sorry,” Washington said.
Family members did not feel like the sentence was sufficient to bring justice for Bri’s death. Bri’s godfather, Tony Bassett, said it was “watered-down justice.”
Bri’s mother, Vanessa Mahkuk, said in an interview this week that she knows that when it thunders, that’s Bri expressing her frustration. A tornado watch was issued for Douglas County late Friday afternoon, with storms possible Friday evening.
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Natasha Torkzaban (she/her), a contributor to The Lawrence Times, is a current senior at Lawrence High School. She was an editor-in-chief of The Free Press at Free State High School before becoming an editor-in-chief for The Budget at Lawrence High School for 2023-24. Read her work for the Times here.
Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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