On April 7, 2021, James Raymond 'Jim' Lewis, a 38-year-old male, was tragically killed while working as an HVAC technician at a home in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Lewis, an employee of GSM Services, was at the residence of Dr. Robert Lesslie when the shooting occurred. He was a native of Flint, Michigan, and a father to three children. Remembered as a man who loved his children, his job, camping, and fishing, his death was a profound loss to his family and colleagues.
Lewis was one of
two HVAC workers shot that day. He and his co-worker, Robert Shook, were performing their duties when they were gunned down. While Lewis died at the scene, Shook was able to call for help but succumbed to his injuries a few days later. The violent incident also claimed the lives of Dr. Robert Lesslie, his wife Barbara Lesslie, and their two grandsons, Adah and Noah Lesslie. The tragic event sent shockwaves through the community, leaving multiple families to mourn the sudden and senseless loss of their loved ones.
The perpetrator of the mass shooting was identified as former NFL player Phillip Adams, a native of Rock Hill. After the shootings, Adams fled the scene and was later found at his parents' nearby home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The motive for the attack remains unclear, though it was later announced that Adams's brain would be examined for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy a degenerative brain disease found in some athletes who have experienced repeated head trauma. In the end, the man responsible for the deaths of six innocent people, including James Raymond Lewis, took his own life, leaving behind a community to grapple with the devastating aftermath.
