On the festive night of July 30, 2023, Lezah Lewis, a 30-year-old Black / African American woman, was celebrating the victory of hometown boxer Terence Crawford near 24th and Locust streets in Omaha, Nebraska. The joyous atmosphere was shattered by gunfire, and Lewis was fatally wounded. A man who was with her at the time was also injured in the shooting but survived.
At the time of her death, Lewis was five months pregnant with her fifth child.
A recent graduate who had just passed her board exams to become a registered nurse, Lezah was described by her mother as a beautiful, funny, and extremely smart woman. She was a mother of four children whom her own mother would go on to care for. Her family and friends were left devastated by the sudden and violent loss of a woman who had so much ahead of her. The community mourned the loss of both Lezah and her unborn child.
In the months following the tragic shooting, the Omaha Police Department's investigation led to the identification of three suspects. In September 2024, murder warrants were issued for Cedric Glover, Christopher Grell, and Victor Henderson Jr. in connection with Lezah Lewis's death. At the time the warrants were served, Grell and Henderson were already in federal custody on unrelated charges. The Metro Fugitive Task Force apprehended Glover. All three men are now facing multiple felony charges, including first-degree murder, for their alleged roles in the shooting that ended Lezah Lewis's life. One of the accused, Victor Henderson Jr., has been ordered to stand trial.
