Tyler

EDITOR'S NOTE: The name of the victim in this article is not identified in keeping with the Tyler Morning Telegraph's policy to protect the identity of victims of sexual abuse and to encourage the reporting of such crimes.


By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

DNA evidence not only proved that Master Jeremyha Lewis raped a co-worker at a Tyler restaurant in February - the scientific evidence also connected him to an unsolved rape that occurred years earlier.

Lewis, 26, pleaded guilty earlier this month to sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman he worked with at the Kentucky Fried Chicken, 2215 W. Gentry Parkway, on Feb. 18.

On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman on Oct. 19, 2003.

The defendant was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the February offense and 20 years in prison for the 2003 rape. Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent of the 114the District Court, ordered that he serve the sentences at the same time and assessed a $5,000 fine.

Assistant Smith County District Attorney Richard Vance said in the February 18 incident, Lewis pinned the young girl in a corner and raped her as she repeatedly told him to stop. He said the victim was crying, traumatized and devastated by what he did to her.

Assistant District Attorney Jason Parrish said earlier that the victim had consensual sex with another co-worker in the freezer of the restaurant that day. When Lewis found out, he also tried to have sex with her in the restaurant's pantry. When she said, "no," he raped her, he said.

Defense attorney LaJuanda Lacy said although they were at a restaurant, it seemed like more of a party on Feb. 18 because the employees were drinking. She said the victim was untruthful to police about her having sex with the manager of the eatery earlier that day.

Ms. Lacy said she was acting flirtatious and acting like she was under the influence of drugs. Although her client should not have done what he did, she said, the victim shared some responsibility for what happened.

Vance said the defendant also lied, denying having sexually assaulted the woman until the DNA tests were concluded. He said it was ridiculous to say the victim bears some responsibility; it was 100 percent Lewis' fault that he pinned her down and raped her, he said.

2003 SEXUAL ASSAULT

Vance said the reason authorities found out about the 2003 rape was because the DNA tests performed on the rape victim in 2007 showed up on a CODIS (Combined DNA Indexing Systems) hit.

On Oct. 19, 2003, Lewis got a woman into his car and, after she "backed out" on having sex with him, he assaulted her. Vance said he beat and bloodied her, then raped her. The victim went to a hospital and was so terrified by what he did, she shied away from nurses trying to examine her. Vance said blood found at the crime scene came from Lewis.

He said the defendant raped twice and would do it again if he was let out of jail anytime soon. He asked for the maximum 20 year sentences on both cases.

Ms. Lacy said scientific evidence did show that Lewis committed the 2003 crime and he pleaded guilty to it; placing himself on the mercy of the court. She asked the judge to consider all of the facts surrounding the two cases, including that he had no prior felony convictions. She also asked the judge to order that the sentences be served at the same time.

Vance said Lewis was on probation for possessing a controlled substance at the time of the offense. He has two prior evading arrest convictions, as well as convictions for driving while intoxicated and public intoxication - all misdemeanors.

Master Jeremyha Lewis
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