Donald Ray Lewis, a 65-year-old Black male, was a celebrated jazz musician and the proprietor of the Young Urban Jazz Café in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His life came to a tragic end on October 7, 2016, when he was reported missing. The circumstances of his disappearance immediately raised alarm. Police were called to his café to find the establishment unlocked, the cash register emptied, and the security system forcibly removed.
Initially, investigators considered the possibility of a robbery and abduction, but there was no immediate evidence to support this theory.
The following evening, on October 8, 2016, investigators conducted a more thorough search of the jazz café. In the basement, hidden behind cardboard boxes, they discovered the lifeless body of Donald Ray Lewis. An autopsy later determined that he had been shot three times at close range. The focus of the investigation soon turned to one of his employees, 30-year-old Jason Small, who had also been reported missing on the same day as Lewis. Small had been working as a cook and cashier at the café since May of that year.
Jason Small was located on the afternoon of October 8th, hiding in the attic crawlspace of a duplex. His attempt to flee when he saw the officers raised suspicion. A search of a nearby garbage bin uncovered crucial evidence, including components of the café's broken DVR security system, blood-soaked towels and aprons, and plastic gloves. Forensic analysis confirmed the blood belonged to Donald Lewis, and the fingerprints inside the gloves were a match to Jason Small. Recovered footage from the damaged DVR system showed Small taking a firearm from under the café's counter and following Lewis into the kitchen area near the basement stairs. The footage also captured Small moving between the kitchen and the basement before emptying the cash register into a bag and leaving. Small was subsequently charged with first-degree intentional homicide. On July 9, 2018, nearly two years after the murder, Jason Small was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
