On a Saturday afternoon in Lansing, Michigan, the normal buzz of a barbershop was shattered by gunfire. Dominique Laurenz Simmons, a 29-year-old male, was inside the Kutt II barbershop on February 11, 2017, when the shooting erupted. The incident, which occurred around 3:30 p.m., resulted in Simmons's death and left two other men wounded. Simmons was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The other two victims, an 18-year-old from Lansing and a 23-year-old from Detroit, sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Fortunately, none of the barbershop employees were harmed during the tragic event.
In the days following the shooting, the Lansing Police Department, with assistance from the Michigan State Police, launched an investigation. Initially, no arrests were made, and the police appealed to the community for any information that could lead to a suspect. The investigation quickly pointed towards a Detroit man, Shawn Pickens, as the primary suspect. Within a week of the incident, the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office filed multiple charges against Pickens.
Shawn Pickens was charged with murder, assault with intent to murder, and two weapons offenses. He was apprehended in the Detroit area and was subsequently arraigned in Lansing. In December 2018, a jury found Pickens guilty of first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, and carrying a concealed weapon. The conviction for first-degree murder carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. In January 2019, Shawn Pickens was sentenced accordingly, bringing a legal conclusion to the violent act that ended Dominique Laurenz Simmons's life.
