The case record for the defendant who was acquitted in the 2023 shooting death of a Lawrence boy will be sealed after Douglas County District Court Judge Mark Simpson granted expungement Wednesday.
Derrick D. Reed, 19, was tried in March 2024 for first-degree murder in the death of Kamarjay Shaw, 14. The shooting took place on the evening of March 18, 2023, near Reed’s home. Reed, who was 17 years old at the time, was tried as an adult, and Douglas County District Judge Sally Pokorny had ruled that he could not claim self-defense.
During the trial, defense attorney Mark Hartman’s arguments hinged heavily on suggesting an alternative suspect: a friend of Reed’s who was with him when the shooting occurred. Law enforcement could not locate the friend ahead of the trial but maintained that Reed was their suspect.
On March 13, 2024, a jury found Reed not guilty. Jurors included nine women and six men who all appeared to be white.
Reed applied for expungement in the summer and appeared via Zoom for the hearing Wednesday. Simpson, Hartman and Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal appeared via Zoom as well.
State statute requires courts to grant expungement requests in all cases in which defendants were found not guilty of the charges levied against them, according to a verdict form shown and discussed during the hearing.
Moving forward, Reed’s criminal record will be wiped of his arrest, charges and subsequent court proceedings. The biological sample taken from him and submitted to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the profile record created from that are also expunged.
Hartman told Simpson it’s likely he and Reed will return to the court sometime within the next few months to make another request to expunge juvenile filings. Reed was initially arrested and charged as a juvenile before Pokorny’s ruling.
Reed declined to make any comments during Wednesday’s hearing.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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