Friday, January 10, 2025

WASHINGTON – Jason Lewis, 42, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today for the killing of 13-year-old Karon Blake in January 2023, in the 1000 block of Quincy Street, NE, Washington D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           Lewis was found guilty on August 16, 2024, of three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of voluntary manslaughter while armed, committed against a minor. Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein ordered Lewis to serve an aggregate sentence of 12 ½ years. 

           According to the government’s evidence presented at trial, at approximately 4:00 a.m., on January 7, 2023, Lewis armed himself with a fully-loaded handgun and went outside his home in the 1000 block of Quincy Street, NE.  Lewis is seen on video leaving his house, aiming and firing at two young people who were fleeing their involvement in breaking into cars. After Lewis fired at those two people, hitting the car that one was driving, Karon Blake then ran in Lewis’s direction.  Lewis then fired two shots into Karon’s left side, killing him. Lewis claimed that he acted in self-defense because the two people that he initially fired at threatened him. In finding Lewis guilty of the assaults with a dangerous weapon, the jury rejected his claim of self-defense. 

           Lewis was arrested on January 31, 2023, and was initially held until he was released in March 2023, over the government’s objection.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. They also commended those who worked on the case including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Wojcik and Shauna Payyappilly, who tried and prosecuted the case.