Lawson, chief plead for help
DA still awaiting answer from DOJ on request to take case
The mother of David Josiah Lawson and the Arcata police chief responsible for solving her son’s murder appeared to share the same message in an audio clip released Sunday, the two of them taking turns speaking before saying the final words in unison: “We need your help.”
Running 30 seconds long, the message calls for anyone to come forward with new information in Lawson’s case. The 19-year-old Humboldt State University student was fatally stabbed after an Arcata house party on April 15, 2017, a killing that remains unsolved more than 31 months later.
In the announcement, Arcata Police Chief Brian Ahearn asks anyone present at the Spear Avenue house party where Lawson was fatally stabbed to call a 24-hour tip line (707-825-3590). Then, Michelle-Charmaine Lawson offers a detail uncovered during the controversial investigation into her son’s death.
“There is DNA evidence from the knife used to kill my son,” Michelle-Charmaine Lawson says in the audio. “Now we need eyewitnesses to come forth and help us get justice for Josiah.”
Beyond the public service announcement, Michelle-Charmaine Lawson said Ahearn allowed her to speak her piece.
“I was a little apprehensive doing it based on the language (Ahearn) wanted us to say, but we were able to compromise and I was able to say exactly what I wanted to talk about,” Lawson said Monday.
But that’s where Lawson said the chemistry ends between her and local law enforcement. Despite APD’s release stating that Lawson had “teamed up” with Ahearn for the PSA, Lawson said she remains frustrated with APD and distrustful of its ability to carry out the investigation.
“We are not on the same page,” Lawson said of Ahearn. “I’m disappointed in the chief.”
She blasted District Attorney Maggie Fleming for “never wanting the case” and shifting blame on APD when placed under public pressure. She said Ahearn has unjustly defended how Fleming has handled the case.
“(Ahearn) thinks Maggie Fleming did everything she could possibly do,” Lawson said. “It’s a bunch of crap! Her job is to speak for the voiceless, and she has never spoken for my son.”
The initial investigation into Lawson’s 2017 fatal stabbing yielded a suspect, Kyle Zoellner, but a preliminary hearing for Zoellner weeks later led to a judge’s ruling that there was insufficient evidence to bring the case to a trial.
Earlier this year, a criminal grand jury further declined to indict anyone in Lawson’s killing, months after APD fully wrapped its investigation and handed the case to Fleming’s office.
Fleming has responded at length to Lawson’s criticisms, issuing a press release earlier this year in which she said DNA on a weapon “provides little or no new information about the incident.”
In an email on Monday, Fleming said she encourages people to examine the case’s history to “evaluate our commitment and effort.”
Fleming added that the state Department of Justice hasn’t responded to her office’s request for the department to take over the case.
Ahearn, meanwhile, continued to defend Fleming’s work and APD’s investigation into Lawson’s killing.
“I’m very proud of everyone at the APD who responded out to that incident, and who did the best they could to try to save Josiah’s life and establish a foundation in which to conduct a murder investigation,” Ahearn said.
Lawson and Ahearn agree on something else: Neither believes the case is cold.
“I know that someone’s going to come forward because they’re going to know that this is not right,” Lawson said. “You take someone’s life, you need to be held accountable. Our lives are forever changed, but that person who took (my son)’s life — his family still has him.”