A man charged with hitting and killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in D.C. early Sunday made his first appearance in court on Monday.
Gerald Lewis, 29, is charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence and reckless driving. He is accused of hitting a man waiting at a bus stop shortly after 3 a.m. on the 1500 block of 14th Street Northwest, in the Logan Circle area.
The man died a couple of hours later at a nearby hospital. D.C. police said that they are waiting to contact the man’s family before releasing his name.
D.C. Pride festivities had been underway at the location hours earlier.
In an affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court, police said when they asked Lewis whether he had been drinking, he replied, “like an hour or two ago, I was … yeah an hour or two ago, you feel me?”
The affidavit said that the man who was hit was on the ground conscious with visible leg injuries after he was hit and that a responding officer called for an ambulance.
The affidavit also said Lewis smelled of alcohol and that he became angry at the scene.
When officers arrived, they said Lewis told them that he was the one driving the car. “I’m right here. I was driving. I’m so sorry,” the affidavit says Lewis told officers.
He then said, “please save him please,” when the officer mentioned that the man who was struck was breathing.
Lewis said, according to the affidavit, that there was a car in front of him and that he tried to swerve to avoid hitting it but that he lost control.
The judge ordered Lewis to remain in jail until his next scheduled hearing on July 7.
