The D.C. man who said he shot a 13-year-old boy in self-defense after encountering the teen in his neighborhood last year has been convicted of manslaughter.
The jury acquitted Jason Lewis of a more serious second-degree murder charge.
The verdict came after the jury in D.C. Superior Court spent several hours over two days deliberating the case.
During his weeklong trial, Lewis, a longtime D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation employee, took the stand, arguing he fatally shot Karon Blake in self-defense. Taking the stand in his own defense, Lewis said he feared for his life after encountering Blake and two other teens outside his home on Quincy Street in Northeast D.C. in the early morning hours of Jan. 7, 2023.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of D.C. said Lewis was the aggressor, who fired the first shot after seeing the teens breaking into cars that night and that he introduced deadly force into what amounted to a property crime.
In addition to manslaughter, the jury convicted Lewis of assault with a dangerous weapon and use of a firearm during a crime of violence.
He is set to be sentenced Oct. 25 and could face a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison.
After the verdict, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. requested that the judge send Lewis — who had been released on GPS monitoring since shortly after his March 2023 indictment — to jail as he awaits sentencing. His defense attorney said he should remain on GPS monitoring, citing his lack of a violent criminal history.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein sided with the defense, saying Lewis could remain on GPS monitoring ahead of sentencing but that he cannot leave the immediate D.C. area.
Jury heard 2 very different stories
In closing arguments Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Shauna Payyappilly told jurors Lewis saw Blake and two other young people breaking into cars in the Northeast D.C. neighborhood in the early morning hours of Jan. 7, 2023, grabbed his gun and went outside to teach them a lesson.
Blake “didn’t deserve to die in someone’s garden, begging for his life,” she told jurors. She added, “You cannot shoot people for property crimes. Full stop.”
When he took the stand, Lewis testified he heard a sound in the middle of the night that sounded like the gate of his patio courtyard being opened. Fearing someone was trying to come inside his home, he said he took his loaded Smith & Wesson handgun to his front patio to investigate. He testified he saw the driver of a car idling in a nearby alley first point a gun at him and then fire a shot Lewis told jurors he fired at the car and then fired two shots at Blake, who was across the street but began running toward him.
Payyappilly, the prosecutor, said Blake was trying to escape the gunfire and ran in the wrong direction.
In doorbell surveillance video footage submitted as evidence in the case, the teen can be heard shouting, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry. No! I’m a kid! I’m only 12,” as the shots ring out.
The jury was shown autopsy photos that the prosecutors say indicate the boy was running away from — not toward Lewis — when he was shot.
Prosecutors also pointed out the incident was caught on doorbell surveillance camera footage that did not capture any other gunshots besides those fired by Lewis and that Lewis never mentioned seeing a gun or being shot at in his initial statements to police.
Defense attorney Ed Ungvarsky said Lewis, who spent 20 years with the parks department and mentored young people, lived an exemplary life, was peaceful and compassionate and was “not some hothead.”
The defense attorney told jurors, “He’s not a fighter; he’s a conflict resolver.”
He said Lewis’ handgun was registered and he had a concealed carry permit to keep his family safe.
“His goal was to protect his family,” the defense attorney said, describing why Lewis went to his front porch that morning armed with a gun, adding that it wasn’t the job of jurors to “second-guess his decision to keep his family safe.”
WTOP’s Nick Iannelli and Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
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