In the early morning hours of a summer day in Colorado Springs, a sequence of events unfolded that tragically ended the life of a young man. It began with a rollover crash near Gold Camp Road, where police noticed several vehicles that sped away as they approached. A witness reported hearing a gunshot and seeing three vehicles flee the scene. Shortly before 6 a.m.
on June 23, 2018, police received a call about a shooting victim.
Responding officers found Derrick Lamont Lawrence Jr., a 23-year-old male, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds near the intersection of S. 8th Street and Cheyenne Blvd. While being transported to the hospital in an ambulance, Lawrence was able to identify his assailant to an officer, stating that his friend, Cedric Jackson, was the one who shot him. Despite medical efforts, Lawrence succumbed to his injuries.
Following this dying declaration, the Colorado Springs Police Department began their investigation. Based on Lawrence's identification, investigators located records for 19-year-old Cedric Jackson. An officer who had been at the earlier crash scene recognized Jackson with near certainty as the driver of one of the cars that had fled. Jackson was arrested the following day and booked for first-degree murder. While an arrest was made, the motive for the shooting remained unclear.
