Victim found dead hours after Louisville plant explosion was a father, veteran

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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky ( WLKY ) — The attorneys for the family of a Louisville plant explosion victim spoke Monday calling for justice and accountability.

During a news conference, we learned a lot more about the victim who was found in the rubble hours after Givaudan Sense Colour officials said everyone was accounted for.

The victim at the center of the briefing was Kevens Dawson Jr., 49. He would have celebrated his 50th birthday on Sunday.

His family said he had been working at the Payne Street plant just over a year.

Dawson was an Army veteran and a father of three. One of his children spoke during the briefing about his character and the last time they spoke.

"I just never thought that his commitment to work would lead to his final days. I said all my dad wanted to do is provide and work hard, and I just can't help feeling that my father really worked himself to death," Kevens Dawns III said.

The family's legal team includes Ben Crump, who has taken on several high-profile civil rights cases, including Breonna Taylor's.

Lonita Baker, who also worked on Taylor's case, is on the team, too, as well as Mark Lanier.

One victim was taken to the hospital immediately following the explosion and then died. But Dawson was found hours later, after the company had told first responders no one was missing.

His girlfriend, Malaika Watson, said she was also told everyone was accounted for and that no one had died. When she couldn't find Dawson, she said she was given three hospitals to check for him.

Watson said she went to all three before coming back to the site around 7 p.m. She said she pleaded with officers to let her go in and she ran under the yellow tape.

Crews went back in, and Dawson was found around midnight dead in the rubble.

"And so if they got there earlier, could they have possibly saved his life? That that is an agonizing question that she will have probably the rest of her life," Crump said.

Just a couple of hours before this news conference, ATF officials said they had determined the origin of the explosion, and said the explosion was accidental.

Nearly a dozen other people were hurt, and Crump is encouraging anyone affected to reach out to his team.

"We want to make sure that you have advocates who are going to fight for you to get not just accountability, but to get the truth so it doesn't happen again," he said.

So far, no lawsuits have been filed, but Dawson's says he won't stop fighting for answers.

"We are devastated by this loss and may never recover. But I will not stop fighting to bring my family peace of mind. And we can all rest once we get our answers of why and how," Dawson III said.