Tag: Kyle Zoellner

April 15, 2020, marks 36 months since a Black 19-year-old Humboldt State University (HSU) student, David Josiah Lawson, also known as DJ and Josiah, was murdered on April 15, 2017, while attending an off-campus party in Arcata, Calif.

As the months fly by, the commitment of holding vigils every month for Humboldt State University Student David Josiah Lawson has remained. These vigils are a way to remember the life of Lawson that was ended way too soon by an act of violence. They also serve the purpose of keeping a light on the fact that his case remains unsolved and that his killer remains on the loose.

Almost three months have passed since the stabbing death of Humboldt State University student David Josiah Lawson, and no one is currently in custody for his murder. The Arcata Police Department and other Arcata city officials held a press conference Friday, June 30, on HSU’s quad. The mother of Lawson was also in attendance along with Shelley Mack of Martin & Mack, a local civil rights firm in Arcata, California. Mack is serving as a liaison for Lawson family attorney Justin Sanders.

It has been two months since the murder of David Josiah Lawson, a Humboldt State student who was stabbed at an off-campus party Easter weekend. Lawson was a 19-year old sophomore at HSU from Perris, California, in Riverside County. Police arrested 23-year-old Kyle Zoellner at the scene. After five days of preliminary hearings and 17 witness testimonies, Eureka Judge Dale Reinholtsen released Zoellner due to a lack of physical evidence.

Kyle Zoellner, the suspect accused of stabbing Humboldt State University student David Josiah Lawson to death at an off-campus party Easter weekend, was released from Eureka’s jail. All charges were dropped. At the five-day preliminary hearing, I watched Zoellner’s girlfriend and her friends lie under oath. Black lives cannot matter as long as non-black people and their word is held in a higher regard than Black people. Black lives cannot matter within the realm of white privilege so long as the stereotypes of Blackness allow for others to use Black bodies as scapegoats.

Saturday morning, April 15, Humboldt State University student David Lawson was stabbed at an off-campus party and died as a result of his injuries. David Lawson, a young Black man, was a sophomore at HSU studying criminology. Elijah Chandler, a friend of David who was present at the scene, gives a chilling recount to reporters of what happened. What is most alarming is the ways in which Chandler describes how the police handled the situation. Humboldt State University, the Arcata Police Department and the community surrounding HSU have blood on their hands and there is no denying it.