photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

Two teenage Lawrence girls facing felony obstruction counts in connection with the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy made their first appearances Wednesday in Douglas County District Court.

The girls are each charged in the Juvenile Division with one count each of “obstructing apprehension or prosecution by concealing, harboring or aiding Derrick D. Reed, who had committed or who had been charged with committing a felony,” according to charging documents. The felony charges are in connection with an incident on March 18 in which Reed, 17, is alleged to have killed Kamarjay Shaw, 14, of Lawrence.

Reed has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death in the 1300 block of Maple Lane. Reed was ordered on July 10 to stand trial as an adult, as the Journal-World reported.

The charging documents for the girls do not list specific dates of birth but only the birth years, one in 2007 and the other in 2005.

The girls appeared in court via Zoom on Wednesday, and Judge Paul Klepper appointed each an attorney and set their next court date for Aug. 30. The state, represented by Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal, did not request that the girls be placed in juvenile detention.

During Reed’s immunity hearing on June 2, when his attorney, Mark Hartman, argued that Reed had acted in self-defense when he allegedly shot Shaw, witnesses testified that the two girls were possibly witnesses to the shooting and were in a parked car immediately next to Reed’s house, where the shooting occurred.

Witnesses also testified that one of the girls had facilitated the meeting between Shaw and Reed by calling Shaw and his friends and telling them that Reed wanted to fight and that they should come over to Reed’s house.

The girls were also at the center of a disturbance during the immunity hearing when Shaw’s father, LaTouche Shaw, pointed them out before the hearing began as witnesses to the shooting and said they should not be allowed to watch the proceedings.

Everyone attending that hearing was eventually ordered by Judge Sally Pokorny to leave the courtroom as she shifted the proceedings to YouTube because of courtroom disruptions. The head of courthouse security, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Chris Johnston, later described the series of outbursts, disturbances and infighting at the hearing as a scene of “chaos,” as the Journal-World reported.

Two other teen girls are also charged with felony obstruction in connection with the shooting. One was born in 2008, and the other was born in 2009. They are each charged with one felony count of obstructing apprehension or prosecution and one felony count of interference with law enforcement for concealing, destroying or altering evidence in the case. Those girls are scheduled to make first appearances in court on July 26.

Also charged with felony obstruction in the case is Camdon Joe Collins, 20, of Lawrence. He also appeared in court on Wednesday for a status update, at which his attorney, Joseph Falls, requested a continuance in the case as he is waiting on additional evidence. Collins is also charged in an unrelated case with one misdemeanor count of battery on a law enforcement officer in connection with an incident on Dec. 18, 2022, in the 1500 block of Lindenwood Lane.

Collins is also facing a probation revocation. He is currently on probation for a felony conviction for criminal discharge of a firearm for an incident in 2021, as the Journal-World reported. Collins was originally arrested on the new obstruction charge and was given a $25,000 bond; however, his bond was later reduced and he is currently free on a $5,000 bond.