Derrick Del Reed is pictured at his preliminary hearing in Douglas County District Court on Aug. 14, 2023. Reed is charged with murder in the shooting death of 14-year-old Kamarjay Shaw outside of Reed's home on March 18, 2023.

A trial for a Lawrence teen who is alleged to have fatally shot another teen is on track for next week after his defense attorney and prosecutors worked out an agreement about what information a jury could hear about the alleged murder weapon.

The defendant, Derrick Del Reed, agreed Wednesday morning in Douglas County District Court to stipulate that Lawrence police received a tip about the gun’s location and that the tip did not come from Reed.

As the Journal-World reported, it was actually Reed’s attorney, Mark Hartman, who told the police about the gun. Hartman had wanted to testify to that effect, but Judge Sally Pokorny denied that request, and the parties ended up instead with the agreement that was reached Wednesday.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Derrick Del Reed is pictured during a hearing on Feb. 28, 2024. Reed is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 14-year-old Kamarjay Shaw on March 18, 2023.

Reed, 18, of Lawrence, is facing one count of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Kamarjay Shaw, 14, also of Lawrence. The incident occurred on March 18, 2023, in the 1300 block of Maple Lane. Reed was 17 at the time of the shooting but was ordered to stand trial as an adult. Reed sought immunity from prosecution based on self-defense, but that was denied by the court, as the Journal-World reported.

The state, represented by Chief Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Tatum and Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal, objected last Thursday when Reed’s attorney, Hartman, indicated that he would need to testify on behalf of his client. Hartman said he received information after the shooting as to the location of the gun from another man, Owen Walker, 19, of Lawrence, who was with Reed at the time of the shooting. He relayed that information to investigators and the weapon was found, as the Journal-World reported.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

left to right, Chief Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Tatum, Attorney Mark Hartman, and Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal, are pictured during a hearing on Feb. 18, 2024. Hartman’s client, Derrick Del Reed, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 14-year-old Kamarjay Shaw on March 18, 2023.

Pokorny ruled on Friday that Hartman was not allowed to testify. She said that allowing him to do so could confuse jurors since they are instructed not to consider anything the defense attorneys or prosecutors say as evidence but rather as arguments intended to help the jury interpret the evidence.

Pokorny ordered the parties to come up with another way to tell the jury how the gun was recovered. Hartman proposed to tell the jury that he received the information from Walker and relayed that information to police. Tatum objected to using either Hartman’s or Walker’s name. She said mentioning Hartman at all could still confuse the jury and that Walker shouldn’t be mentioned because he is unavailable to testify. Pokorny then gave the parties until Wednesday to work out a solution.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Derrick Del Reed, left, Attorney Mark Hartman, center, and Judge Sally Pokorny, right, are pictured during a hearing on Feb. 28, 2024. Reed is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 14-year-old Kamarjay Shaw on March 18, 2023.

Who is Owen Walker?

According to court documents, Walker was with Reed before, during and after the shooting. He is currently wanted by Lawrence police to face charges of felony obstruction and interference in the case.

photo by: Lawrence Police Department

Owen Gage Walker is pictured in this notice from the Lawrence Police Department. Walker is suspected of felony obstruction in connection with the shooting death of 14-year-old Kamarjay Shaw on March 18, 2023.

As the Journal-World previously reported, witnesses testified during a hearing in August 2023 that the shooting came about after Reed’s and Shaw’s friend groups had been feuding for some time. A group of girls who were friends with Reed invited Shaw and his friends, who were at an apartment about a block from Reed’s house, to come over to Reed’s for a fight. Shaw and several of his friends went to Reed’s house, some armed with metal poles, but when they refused to fight Reed in his backyard, they started to leave. One of the boys in Shaw’s group then threw his pipe to the ground and it bounced and hit Reed’s sister’s car. Reed is then alleged to have gone inside his house and returned with a firearm and shot two rounds at the group of kids who were leaving, striking Shaw in the back.

In an interview with Walker after the shooting, Walker told police he was with Reed in his house and they heard a group of people approaching. Walker said he did not recognize any of the kids who were approaching. He said that the kids were carrying weapons and at least two were displaying guns so he and Reed “were defending themselves,” according to an affidavit in support of obstruction charges against Walker and several other people.

When police asked Walker to explain what he meant by “defending themselves,” Walker stated that he “did not wish to speak on that.” Police pressed and asked what the kids were doing that necessitated that they defend themselves. Walker said that besides showing guns and other weapons, they were coming into Reed’s yard, according to the affidavit.

Walker initially said he did not know what made Reed start shooting but when asked about the pole hitting Reed’s sister’s car, Walker said “he believed that’s what set Derrick off.” He said that when the car was damaged in the past, Reed had to pay for it and Walker thought that Reed was mad and didn’t want the car damaged, according to the affidavit.

When police showed Walker a surveillance video taken from a neighbor’s doorbell camera, Walker pointed at two of the boys in the group that he claimed were displaying guns. When police confronted Walker with the fact that all of the kids were walking away when Reed is alleged to have fired the shots, Walker again said he did not “wish to speak on that,” according to the affidavit.

Walker told police he was not armed at any point during the altercation and he did not know where or when Reed armed himself with a gun. Walker then said he and Reed left together to another location and parted ways, according to the affidavit.

‘Get me out of here’

Police later received a tip about where Reed and Walker went after the shooting. A witness provided police with surveillance video showing Reed and Walker arriving at her neighbor’s house, according to the affidavit.

The video shows Reed and Walker running into the neighbor’s house around 5:17 p.m., shortly after the shooting. After Reed and Walker arrive, four more people go into the house — believed to be Jaren B. Collins; Camdon J. Collins; Reed’s mother, Amanda Cheek; and her boyfriend, Vernon Brown. Camdon Collins is currently charged with felony obstruction in connection with the case, according to the affidavit.

photo by: Mugshot courtesy of the KBI Violent Offenders Registry

Camdon Joe Collins is pictured with the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

Around 6 p.m. Reed exits the house wearing different clothes and Camdon Collins can be heard saying “don’t use your phone,” and a few minutes later Brown and Walker exit, and Brown is heard telling Walker he also needed to change his clothes, according to the affidavit.

One of the girls who had allegedly instigated the initial meeting later told police that she and the other girls followed Reed’s car after the shooting but lost sight of them briefly and then picked Walker and Reed up on foot near a warehouse. She said when Reed got in the car he said “you guys didn’t see anything … if I go to court you better testify,” before Reed then made two phone calls and in one of those calls he said “get me out of here.” The girl told police she believed he needed to get out of town because he just shot a kid. Police later traced GPS data from the girl’s phone, and investigators believe the girls were still driving behind Reed when he disposed of the gun, according to the affidavit. That girl has been charged with obstruction in the case also.

Reed is being held at the Douglas County Jail on a $500,000 bond and is scheduled for trial on March 4.

photo by: Jawaun Johnson’s GoFundMe

Kamarjay Shaw, center, was killed in a shooting on March 18, 2023.