photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Keisonn Smith Jr.

Story updated at 3:26 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9:

The suspect in a fatal stabbing in downtown Lawrence last week has now been charged with murder.

Keisonn Smith Jr., 25, was arrested Aug. 30 in connection with the death of 20-year-old McMillin Tutu, of Kansas City, Missouri, and – after some delay – was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder and intimidation of a witness or victim. The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office released no further details Wednesday beyond noting that Smith would make his first court appearance that afternoon.

At Wednesday’s hearing, defense attorney Angelo Panas-Cabrera requested an own-recognizance bond for Smith. He said that Smith was born in Topeka and has lived there with his grandmother since 2022, and that he worked in construction for the past 11 months and was planning to attend tech school in January to become an electrician.

However, Judge Amy Hanley denied the request for an OR bond. Smith’s bond was instead left at $500,000 cash or surety.

Smith was apprehended Aug. 30 in connection with the early-morning stabbing of Tutu near Seventh and Massachusetts streets. Police said the stabbing occurred as “a weekend bar brawl turned deadly.”

Police were called to the scene around 2:40 a.m. Officers found Tutu lying on the sidewalk near a breezeway that connects Massachusetts Street to a parking lot off of New Hampshire Street. He had been stabbed several times in the chest and abdomen. He was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Once evidence pointed to Smith as the suspect, Lawrence investigators contacted the Topeka Police Department, who made the arrest at about 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 30. Detectives traveled to Topeka to interview Smith and later booked him into the Douglas County Jail.

He was not immediately charged but remained in custody on a federal hold. The nature of that hold was not clear.

Smith’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 15 in front of Judge Stacey Donovan.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Keisonn Smith Jr., left, appears via videoconference in Douglas County District Court on Sept. 9, 2026. With him is attorney Angelo Panas Cabrera from the Public Defenders Office.