The 42-year-old Lewis, also Black like Blake, appeared to take the law into his own hands. He brought his handgun with him when he confronted Blake and two others who were allegedly attempting to steal vehicles on his street.
Lewis said that he thought he heard a gunshot shortly before he shot Blake, but prosecutors pointed out that his Ring security camera was able to pick up Lewis letting out a heavy sigh, but never picked up any gunshot before Lewis fired his weapon. In addition, the prosecution also argued that Lewis never said he heard gunfire until last week, over a year after the shooting of Blake.
In addition to the manslaughter charge, Lewis was found guilty of three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two charges of assault with a deadly weapon. Although Brian McDaniel, a lawyer for the Blake family, said in a statement that the family was disappointed that Lewis wasn’t convicted of the murder of Karon, they still held out hope.
“The family is disappointed that Mr. Lewis was not found guilty of the more serious charges but they respect the time and attention of the jury and appreciate their participation in the process. They miss Karon dearly and hope that a sentence will reflect the loss that they experience every day,” McDaniel said.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Superior Judge Anthony Epstein scheduled the sentencing of Lewis for Oct. 25. For the manslaughter charge, Lewis faces a maximum sentence of 45 years. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, since Lewis was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, the jury rejected his self-defense claim.
According to WUSA 9, although the trial has now concluded, it has left a community and a family to pick up the pieces in the aftermath. As the prosecution reminded the jury, Blake’s mistakes did not give Lewis the license to take his life, regardless of what he thought he heard or what Blake was doing that night. “Karon should not have been breaking into cars that night, but he didn’t deserve to die in someone’s garden either.”
Source: Black Enterprise
