In the late hours of a September evening in 2017, the life of 23-year-old Cameron A. Hooks of Lenexa, Kansas, was tragically cut short. The young Black man was inside a guest room at a Motel 6 in Lawrence when violence erupted. On September 2nd, at approximately 11:30 p.m., police were dispatched to the motel where they discovered a chaotic and grim scene. Hooks and two other individuals had sustained gunshot wounds.
While the other two victims were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Hooks succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the shooting quickly identified multiple suspects. A 19-year-old from Kansas City, Kansas, Tyrone J. Carvin, was identified as one of the alleged assailants. Carvin had also suffered a gunshot wound during the incident and sought treatment at a Kansas City-area hospital. Following his release, he was taken into custody. Shortly after, an 18-year-old from Kansas City, Missouri, Shawn K. Smith, was also apprehended. The third suspect, 22-year-old Ramone Singleton of Kansas City, Kansas, was arrested later that month in Kansas City, Missouri.
All three men faced serious charges in connection with the fatal shooting. Prosecutors charged Carvin, Smith, and Singleton with first-degree murder, alleging that Hooks was killed during the commission of an armed robbery. In addition to the murder charge, each of the suspects faced two counts of aggravated battery and one count of aggravated assault for the injuries sustained by the other two victims in the motel room. Carvin was held on a $1 million bond following his arrest. The investigation suggested a gun battle had taken place within the confines of the motel room, leading to the tragic outcome for Cameron Hooks.
