On the evening of March 5, 2024, a young White/Caucasian man named Davin Gregory Kerr, age 18, was at his grandmother's house in Lawrence, Kansas, engrossed in a world of video games with a friend, Hunter Gaines. The familiar sounds of their game were tragically interrupted in the home located in the 2900 block of Crestline Drive. Also present was a 21-year-old acquaintance from Topeka, Dawson Edward Paine.
In a sequence of events that would end a life, Paine was handling a 9mm pistol.
A witness later testified that Paine had been "playing" with the loaded weapon, pointing it at both Kerr and Gaines. Despite Kerr telling him to stop, the gun discharged, a single bullet striking Davin Kerr in the lower abdomen. In the immediate aftermath, Paine reportedly expressed shock and apologized to Kerr before fleeing the scene. Gaines immediately called 911 for help, and dispatchers coached him on how to tend to his friend's wound until paramedics could arrive. Kerr was rushed to a Kansas City-area trauma center with life-threatening injuries. He succumbed to his injuries and passed away on March 6, 2024, just ten days shy of his nineteenth birthday.
In the days following the shooting, the Lawrence Police Department identified Dawson Edward Paine as the suspect and asked for the public's help in locating him, cautioning that he should be considered armed and dangerous. Paine was arrested in Topeka a few days after the incident. During a police interview, he admitted to the shooting. He claimed he thought he had unloaded the weapon before jokingly pointing it at Kerr.
Dawson Edward Paine was charged with one felony count of second-degree murder for Davin Kerr's death. In December 2024, just as his jury trial was about to begin, Paine pleaded guilty. Though the incident was described by a witness as an accident, the legal proceedings characterized it as a reckless murder. On March 18, 2025, a judge sentenced Paine to 131 months, or nearly 11 years, in prison. During the sentencing, members of Kerr's family gave emotional statements, speaking of their profound loss and the devastating impact of Paine's actions on their lives.
