WASHINGTON — The fate of a former D.C. government worker who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy is now in the hands of a jury.
Thursday afternoon, closing arguments in the murder trial of Jason Lewis wrapped up. The 42-year-old admitted to shooting Karon Blake after the boy and his friends were caught breaking into cars on Quincy Street, NE in the early morning hours of Jan. 7, 2023. Now the jury must decide if Lewis committed a murder or acted in self-defense.
Lewis did not tell police the night of the incident, but testified in court that he was shot at by someone in that stolen car and was returning fire. In fact, one of his neighbors testified to hearing what sounded like a shot from a rifle.
But prosecutors said the neighbor is mistaken, and that he likely heard a bang from the car crash or the echo of gunshots. The only gunshots that were heard on surveillance video were the three shots fired from Lewis' gun. Police did not find any weapons in that getaway car, but they never found the two other boys either.
We do know that Karon Blake was unarmed when he started running after hearing the first gunshot.
We will never know why he ran towards Jason Lewis. Lewis was right outside his front porch at that time — without his glasses, but armed with his licensed firearm. We know that after the first shot, Lewis fired two more shots that struck Blake.
Before closing arguments, prosecutors played audio of Blake's final plea repeatedly saying, “I'm sorry, no, no, no, I'm a kid, I'm only 12."
Then the prosecutor told the jury, “Karon should not have been breaking into cars that night, but he didn't deserve to die in someone's garden either."
They describe the 42-year-old as the first aggressor, who chose to leave the safety of his home and shoot at kids trying to get away after breaking into cars.
The defense called the shooting self-defense and argued that Lewis feared for his life telling the jury, "guilty people don't do CPR, they don't cooperate with police, they don't testify, they delete videos, but here we have the videos."
Now the jury of twelve men and women has a tough job ahead, and a lot of evidence to pour through.
They must decide if Jason Lewis is guilty of two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon for shooting towards the kids in the getaway car. If they do, the next decision is the second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter of Blake.
The defense said Lewis feared for his life and should be acquitted of all charges. Blake's aunt says she wants justice to be served.
The jury spent two hours deliberating Thursday and will return Friday morning to continue weighing the facts of the case and the charges before them.