14-year-old and 15-year-old charged as adults in Pointe 23 homicide

Updated at 8:30 p.m. after Lawson was booked into the adult jail.

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Mikhail O. Lawson, 14., and Kemeon Marke Lee, 15, have been charged as adults in the murder of Caleb Fries, 17, at Pointe 23 Apartments on February 19. Lee is currently being held without bail pending a hearing on a motion to hold him without bail until trial; bail has not been set for Lawson. In the motion to hold Lee without bail, Assistant State Attorney Ryan Nagel wrote that the State intends to show that “the defendant was a co-conspirator and principle to robbery and felony murder. The state will further show that this defendant facilitated a drug deal, where co-conspirator committed said homicide, and that this defendant committed the robbery of drugs and money.”

Full details of the incident were previously reported and are included below. Formal charges against the three defendants were filed on March 22, with both Lee and Lawson charged as adults, along with 25-year-old Dyquann Freeney.

Formal charges filed

All three defendants have been charged with second-degree murder by a dangerous act, evincing a depraved mind. According to the formal charging document, Freeney and Lawson are each accused of possessing a firearm, and Freeney is accused of firing the shot that killed Fries.

All three defendants have also been charged with conspiracy to rob Fries while armed and with taking marijuana from Fries while armed.

Freeney has been formally charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and tampering with evidence, for allegedly throwing his gun into a pond.

Lawson has been formally charged with unlawfully possession of a firearm, as a minor.

Details of the incident

At about 8:58 p.m. on February 19, calls were received about shots fired at Pointe 23 Apartments (740 NE 23rd Avenue). Responding officers found Caleb Fries, 17, in a car, killed by a single gunshot to the head.

Officers reportedly found shell casings from two different guns: two .45 caliber shells were found inside the car, and one 9mm shell casing was found outside the car on the driver’s side. A .45 caliber gun was reportedly found next to Fries inside the car. The shot that killed Fries was determined to have come from outside the car, and there was a bullet hole in the front passenger side window that came from inside the car.

A witness in the apartment complex told an officer that she heard gunshots and then saw two black males running east through the complex and then south toward NE 23rd Avenue, saying “Oh, sh*t, oh, sh*t” as they ran. She said a third black male ran behind the first two and that he looked bigger and older than the first two.

A second witness in the apartment complex told an officer that he saw three black males run past his vehicle, and one appeared to be carrying a pistol.

Gainesville Police Department’s investigation found that Fries was a marijuana dealer who had recently purchased products from a new supplier; a pouch of marijuana was reportedly found next to Fries in the car. A witness told an officer that Fries was known to carry a gun. Fries’ cell phone was reportedly found in his car, and although a GPD Forensic Examiner was unable to unlock it, the lock screen showed several Instagram notifications.

Surveillance video from Chelsea Apartments (2510 NE 9th Street), which is to the east of Pointe 23 Apartments, reportedly shows an SUV that arrived and parked in the southwest corner of Chelsea Apartments at about 8:49 p.m. Three people appeared to be waiting for the SUV to arrive, and they showed the SUV where to park; the parking spot was near a trail that leads to NE 23rd Avenue. As the SUV parked, the three people walked away on the path toward NE 23rd Avenue, and the SUV stayed in the parking space with its headlights on. At 8:57 p.m., two people ran from the trail toward the SUV, then they got in, and the SUV left the complex. About a minute later, a third person walked out of the trail and east through the complex.

A witness reportedly told an officer that Fries used his Instagram account to sell marijuana and that he had posted new products on his Instagram account on the day of the shooting.

Officers accessed Fries’ Instagram account, which reportedly showed he was planning to meet someone at Pointe 23 to sell marijuana. The owner of the buyer’s account was reportedly identified as 15-year-old Kemeon Lee, who has now been charged as a juvenile with armed robbery and murder, and Lee’s account reportedly messaged Fries at 8:37 p.m., saying he was “finna come out der.” Officers also reported that there were two Instagram calls from Lee to Fries at 8:38 p.m. and 8:52 p.m. and that the messages from Lee were the only messages on Fries’ Instagram in the hours leading up to his murder.

An officer spoke with Lee on February 23, and Lee reportedly said he knew Fries and had purchased marijuana from him in the past. He said he had last spoken with Fries on February 17 on Instagram and had been at a birthday party in the Highland Court neighborhood with his friend, 14-year-old Mikhail Lawson, on the night of the murder. He said another friend picked them up from the party and took them to Bivens Cove apartment complex; the officer reported that the friend drives a vehicle that is similar to the SUV that parked at Chelsea Apartments.

Lawson has also been charged as a juvenile with armed robbery and murder.

An officer interviewed the friend, who reportedly said Lawson had asked her to pick him up at Chelsea Apartments on the night of February 19 and that she assumed he was buying marijuana. She said Lawson told her where to park, and Lawson and Lee went down the trail toward NE 23rd Avenue. A few minutes later, they came back, out of breath, and Lawson had a handgun that had a bullet hole in the extended magazine. Lawson’s hand was also bleeding. She said Lawson told her his gun had been shot.

A search warrant was obtained for Lee’s Instagram account, and officers reportedly found a live video posted at 7:13 p.m. on February 19, showing Lawson and Lee with a handgun with an extended magazine. Officers also reportedly found Instagram messages between Lee and another person at 10:44 p.m. on February 19 in which Lee said “On my soul tha shi flew past my face” [sic].

An officer interviewed Lee again on March 4, and post Miranda, he reportedly said he was with Lawson at a birthday party on NE 12th Street on the night of February 19, and after the party, they walked down NE 12th Street to where Freeney hangs out. He said Freeney asked them if they wanted to get “gas,” which is slang for marijuana, and that Freeney told him to text Fries to set up the sale.

Lee reportedly said that after he messaged Fries, he overheard Lawson and Freeney talking about robbing Fries, saying, “We gonna come up both sides.” Lee reportedly said that when they got to Pointe 23, he got into the front seat of Fries’ car and was in the process of buying marijuana when Lawson came up on the passenger side of the car with a gun and Freeney came up on the driver’s side. He said Fries grabbed his own gun and started shooting at Lawson, then Freeney shot Fries. Lee reportedly said he got out of Fries’ car and ran to Chelsea Apartments, where their friend was waiting in the SUV.

Post Miranda, Freeney reportedly said he was with Lawson and Lee on the night of the shooting and that Lee had made arrangements to buy marijuana from Fries. He said that after Lee got into Fries’ car, he was taking a long time, so Lawson walked up on the passenger side of the car and he walked up on the driver’s side of the car to check on Lee. Freeney reportedly said Lawson tried to open the passenger side door, and Fries starting shooting at Lawson; he said he had a gun for protection purposes and shot once through the driver’s side window, hitting Fries. Freeney said he shot Fries to defend Lawson and that he ran away after firing his gun and threw the gun into a nearby pond. Freeney denied any plans to rob Fries and said he later learned that Lawson’s gun had been hit by Fries’ shot.

Freeney is a convicted felon who is on probation in Georgia for aggravated assault; according to court documents, he has been in the area for about three months. He has been charged with armed robbery, murder, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Judge Thomas Jaworski ordered him held without bond, and prosecutors have filed notice that they intend to ask that he be held without bond until trial.