On a crisp November evening in 2014, the life of Brad Hancock, a 24-year-old White male, was tragically cut short outside a Salt Lake City music venue. Hancock, a singer for the hardcore band Close Grip and a concert promoter, was at a show at At The Core on November 15th. An altercation arose when Quincy Earl Lawson, then 20 years old, reportedly started a fight with Hancock's younger brother.
Hancock intervened and escorted Lawson out of the venue.
A short time later, Hancock went outside and saw that Lawson was still on the property. He threw a rock in Lawson's direction, telling him to leave, though the rock did not hit him. In response, Lawson fired a handgun multiple times. Hancock was struck in the head and arm and died at the scene. Another man, Hancock's bandmate, was struck in the foot by a bullet and sustained minor injuries.
Lawson fled the scene after the shooting but was identified by witnesses and apprehended by police several hours later in Nephi. He was subsequently arrested and charged with murder, obstructing justice, and multiple counts of felony discharge of a firearm. The firearm used in the shooting was never recovered by law enforcement.
Quincy Earl Lawson was held on $1 million bail. He later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. Lawson's defense attorney claimed he acted in fear after Hancock threw a large piece of concrete at him. Prosecutors, however, pointed to Lawson's aspiration to a "gangster lifestyle" and the fact that he fired six shots. He was sentenced to a term of one to 15 years in prison for the shooting. The other charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Hancock's family remembered him as a passionate musician and a devoted father to his young son, who was only a year old at the time of his father's death.
