The boyfriend of a dead 3-year-old’s sister has been sentenced to 60 years in jail for fatally neglecting the child to the point where the victim, 3-year-old King Dewey, weighed only 19 pounds and seemed “skeletal.” He is eligible for parole after 30 years.
The defendant, Jaylin Jevon Lewis, 26, reportedly testified on his behalf during the penalty phase of his trial after jurors convicted him of two counts of injury to a child with intent to cause serious bodily harm, but when his defense lawyer Tom Burbank asked if he respected the jury’s decision, the defendant said, “Not really.”
Prosecutor Tommy Coleman responded to him later during cross-examination in Jefferson County, Texas.
“Even as you sit there, it seems a little remorseless,” Coleman told me. According to local deputies and police, King died of starvation on May 31, 2022, in a closet that was padlocked. The sheriff’s office described the child’s death as “horrific.”
His sister, Kristen Louis, 21, pled guilty earlier this week to child injury and received a 30-year sentence. The prosecution against their mother, Tina Louise Louis, 43, who abandoned the child in Louis and Lewis’ care, is ongoing.
Lewis was convicted on Wednesday and sentenced on Thursday. On the stand, he attempted to transfer the blame to Tina Louis.
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“If I could turn back the hands of time to take matters to my own hands, I would have taken it upon myself to give him a better opportunity than what his mother was giving him,” says Lewis.
“You are asking for consideration,” Coleman subsequently told him. “Did you show consideration to King?”