On February 2, 2015, a domestic argument inside a home on Fenton Street in Detroit escalated to a fatal conclusion, ending the life of 47-year-old Cornell Robert Lewis. The male victim was shot and killed inside his residence during a dispute with his wife, Jacqueline Lewis. The argument reportedly began over another woman Cornell Lewis was allegedly seeing.
During the course of the confrontation, Jacqueline Lewis claimed that her husband began throwing food at her.
She stated that he then reached for a gun that was concealed in the cushions of a couch. According to her account, she was able to retrieve the weapon first and, fearing for her safety, shot her husband in one of their children's bedrooms.
The altercation and subsequent shooting had a traumatic impact on the couple's children who were present in the home. Their 8-year-old daughter sustained a superficial gunshot wound to her leg, while their 11-year-old son escaped the house by jumping from a window, though he was not physically harmed.
Following the shooting, Jacqueline Lewis, who was 38 at the time, was arrested and charged with premeditated murder, two counts of assault with intent to murder for the injuries to her daughter and for aiming the gun at her son, and felonious assault. During the legal proceedings, the prosecution presented a note found in the home as evidence that the killing was premeditated. The defense, however, argued that Jacqueline Lewis was a victim of domestic violence and had acted in self-defense, pointing to bruises on her body as evidence.
Ultimately, a jury convicted Jacqueline Lewis of the lesser charge of manslaughter, as well as assault with intent to do great bodily harm and felony firearm charges. For the manslaughter conviction, she was sentenced to a term of 100 months to 15 years in prison. She received additional sentences for the other charges, including a two-year sentence for the felony firearm charge.
