Ex-NBA star Shawn Kemp sued by incarcerated man for distress from Tacoma shooting
One of two men who were inside a vehicle former NBA Seattle SuperSonics star Shawn Kemp is accused of shooting at in the parking lot of the Tacoma Mall has filed a lawsuit seeking damages for emotional distress.
An attorney for Dajuan Jackson wrote in a complaint for damages that Jackson was a passenger in a Toyota 4Runner driven by his friend on the day of the March 2023 incident. According to the document, Kemp — who had tracked his stolen cell phone to the parking lot — arrived in a Porsche, then approached the other vehicle and shot a .357-caliber revolver at it without warning.
Kemp, 55, walked back to his vehicle and looked through the trunk, according to the complaint, then came back to the Toyota and shot it two more times while the driver tried to flee. A search of Kemp’s car later found an “AR-15 style pistol” in the trunk with no ammunition.
Police said no one was injured. According to the lawsuit, Kemp’s actions caused Jackson to suffer general damages for personal injuries, including but not limited to negligent infliction of emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and other general damages.
Jackson, 39, is incarcerated at the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell, Washington, according to the Department of Corrections. He has a lengthy criminal history, court records show, including 13 felony convictions in Pierce, King, Mason counties in Washington and Multnomah County in Oregon between 2012 and 2016.
The offenses included possessing stolen property, attempting to elude police, bail jumping, second-degree identity theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Most recently in Pierce County, Jackson pleaded guilty in September 2023 to third-degree domestic-violence assault, theft of a motor vehicle and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm for an incident in Lakewood. He was sentenced to four years, three months in prison.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court, does not specify a monetary amount of damages that Jackson is seeking. It names Kemp and his wife, Marvena Thomas, as defendants, and it asks for judgment against them in an amount to be proven at trial, as well as an award of attorney fees and costs.
Reached by phone Thursday, an attorney for Kemp, Tim Leary, said he wasn’t aware of the lawsuit and wasn’t in a position to comment on it. He was not available to speak further Friday.
Kemp has pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault in the criminal case related to the shooting, which is ongoing in Superior Court. A trial readiness status hearing is set for Feb. 7.
Kemp’s lawyers have previously said that people inside the vehicle shot at Kemp, and he returned fire in self-defense. Charging documents in the criminal case don’t give any indication that Kemp was shot at.
An attorney for Jackson, Fred Rabb, said Friday that there wasn’t a strategic purpose to the timing of the lawsuit. He said Jackson reached out recently, and they needed to file it before the statute of limitations expired.
Of the shooting incident, Rabb said Jackson did not have a weapon at the time, and he didn’t know if the other person in the vehicle did have one.
“No one pointed a gun at Shawn Kemp. He just opened fire,” Rabb said.
Kemp was arrested by the Tacoma Police Department and was released the next day. About a month later Pierce County prosecutors charged him with first-degree assault and issued a summons for arraignment.
A court commissioner said Kemp had no criminal history and released him on his personal recognizance. Since then he’s remained out of custody.
In an interview with Tacoma detectives, Kemp allegedly said he first tracked his phone to location in Fife that led him to a silver SUV, according to the probable cause document. He said he asked the occupants if they had his stolen items, but the vehicle left. Then he tracked the phone to the mall.
“Kemp was adamant in his interview that he had retreated to his vehicle after he was shot at, and then shot back at the 4Runner,” a detective reported. “However, the video clearly showed Kemp getting the revolver out of the backpack as soon as he gets out of his Porsche.”
An omnibus order filed in January 2024 showed that the defense had received a preliminary plea offer from prosecutors. At the time, discovery in the case was not complete. Law enforcement still needed to interview a witness and transcripts of body-worn camera video were not complete.
This story was originally published January 31, 2025 at 1:16 PM.
