Justin Walter Lawton

Justin Walter Lawton was a young father and a son whose family ties were central to his life. Public funeral notices list his children—Justin Lawton Jr., Ja'Kaylah Lawton, Jaivyn Lawton, and Zayden Lawton—and his mother, Wanda Lawton, among those who survived him. Services were held in Charleston, South Carolina, where family and friends gathered to celebrate his life and to lay him to rest.

Though details of his day-to-day life in Nashville are limited in public records, memorial pages and the family’s published funeral notice make clear that Justin was known and loved by relatives and friends who posted messages of grief and remembrance after his passing. Comments left on the family notice remember him as a brother, a son, and a friend who will be missed.

Justin’s death on December 14, 2016, is documented in contemporaneous news reports and in a later federal press release that references the robbery and murder investigation stemming from that night. While public accounts record the circumstances of his death and the subsequent legal proceedings, this remembrance focuses on the human outline left behind: a man with children who remained in the hearts of family members and a community that gathered to honor him. The funeral arrangements entrusted to Pasley's Mortuary and the memorial service in late December 2016 provided a place for people who loved him to share memories and support one another.

Because the family-published obituary and funeral notice provide the clearest picture of Justin’s close relationships, those details form the core of this remembrance. Out of respect for his family and the limits of publicly available information, this page emphasizes the relationships named by family members and the fact that Justin’s life mattered to those who survive him.