MJP –
After prosecutors appealed last week’s decision by a judge in Prince William General District Court to release a murder suspect on an unsecured bond of $2,500, the man is back in jail.
Accused of murdering Earl Duwan Miller, 54, of Woodbridge, Jermaine Antwoine Lewis, 25, of Springfield, was allegedly involved in a dispute that took place outside Sonic Soft Car Wash at 14109 Richmond Highway on September 14.
Although Lewis’s legal team maintains that their client was acting in “pure self-defense,” he is nonetheless facing charges of second-degree murder, felony firearm possession, and firing from an occupied vehicle.
Wally Covington, a judge in Prince William General District Court, gave Lewis an unsecured bond of $2,500 last week, despite prosecutors’ objections. According to InsideNoVa’s Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth, he failed to provide any justification for the decision.
“The prosecutor asked Judge Covington to ‘stay’ his ruling and not release the defendant until the [circuit] court could hear the matter but that request was denied,” Ashworth wrote in a correspondence.
The prosecution wasted no time in appealing the judge’s ruling, which was heard by Judge James Willett of the Prince William Circuit Court on Tuesday.
Lewis, according to his defense team, was scared and retaliated with a revolver when Miller swung at his car. The defense informed the judge that Lewis’s girlfriend had also drawn a gun. She faced charges of displaying a handgun subsequently.
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According to the defense, video footage shot at the car wash proves that Miller attacked Lewis in an unprovoked manner. Prosecutors, however, said that Lewis appears visibly distressed, agitated, and gesticulating in the footage.
In addition to leading police on what prosecutors called “an O.J. style chase” into Fairfax County following the shooting, the prosecution claimed Lewis gave the police his location as he drove down Interstate 95 by calling 911. However, Lewis’s defense presented the opposite argument.
Lewis has four children, three daughters and a son, according to his defense lawyers. He has primary custody of the son. According to what the defense informed the judge, he went to embrace his girls before contacting the police following the shooting.
Court documents show that Lewis was waiting for a hearing in October on a misdemeanor charge of displaying a firearm in Prince William County from May when the incident occurred. In a separate incident that occurred in March, authorities stated that he was also charged with assault and brandishing. Additionally, he has a record of being convicted of possessing a concealed firearm.
After the one-hour hearing, Judge James Willett of the Prince William Circuit Court ordered Lewis to post a $20,000 bond and stated that the question of whether the shooting was justified should be decided by a jury and not by him.
Soon after 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Lewis was booked into the Prince William-Manassas regional jail.
