Police: Teen killed outside school was an accidental victim

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Lawrenceville police say a teenager shot and killed outside a Gwinnett County high school was an accidental victim.

Investigators say Kevin Dawoyea was murdered by one of his best friends during a fight just yards from Phoenix High School.

Detective Kevin Dyals with the Lawrenceville Police Department told a judge Tuesday morning that Dawoyea was shot by Kevin Emanuel as the two were involved in a fight involving a third friend, Isaiah Lo. Lo is a student at Phoenix High.

"At that time Kevin Emanuel comes around from the other side of the vehicle and fires a shot at the head of Kendall Boone. It grazes the top of Boone's head and enters Dewoyea's chest," Dyals said.

The bullet left a 4- to 6-inch wound on Boone's head, but he's recovering from his injuries, according to police.

Investigators say the shooting was captured by a witness holding a cellphone camera.

After the shooting, authorities say Emanuel and Lo grabbed their friend, threw him in the back of their car and fled the scene.

Moments later, Dyals says surveillance video shows the two trying to get help for their friend at a nearby doctor's office next to Gwinnett Medical Center.

"In the video you see Mr. Lowe come in first, he's trying to get someone's attention, he's waving his arms and then you see Emanuel drag in Mr. Dewoyea laid him on the floor," Dyals said. "Mr. Lowe was yelling out, 'My friend's been shot, can someone please help him?' Then they left."

Both turned themselves in to police within a couple of days. Emanuel's family sat through the hearing not believing what they heard.

"This is my heart," suspect Kevin Emanuel's stepfather said.

"Everything they say about my son is not true. My son is not a criminal," Emanuel's mother Kelty Theramene said.

While Emanuel is charged with murder, Isaiah Lo faces aggravated assault charges after allegedly beating one student to the point Lo told police he thought he was dead.

"They always at my house. I see them like my children because they are always there," Theramene said.

The family says Lo, Emanuel, and Dawoyea were best friends and hung out most of the time. Theramene doesn't believe her son would shoot Dawoyea.

Lawrenceville police say they have not found the gun used in the shooting.

"I know in America there is justice, however if my son shot Kevin on purpose, the truth is going to come out," Theramene said.

Both Emanuel and Lo are being held without bond at the Gwinnett County Detention Center.

WSBTV