A Caddo District Court jury has found Cameron Deshane Lewis, 28, guilty of murder on January 10, 2018.
According to a press release from the Caddo District Attorney’s Office:
Cameron Deshane Lewis was found guilty of the February 22, 2016 slaying of Bryan Savage, killed during a burglary at his Woolworth Road residence.
The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated less than an hour before returning to District Judge Katherine Dorroh’s courtroom with the unanimous verdict, guilty of second-degree murder, at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, January 10, 2018.
The jurors determined that Lewis and an accomplice broke into the Savage residence, shot him and then burglarized the home before setting it on fire. The fire destroyed the home and burned 20 percent of the victim’s body. The defendants were captured driving Savage’s work truck and dividing the stolen goods one hour later on casino surveillance cameras. Following his arrest, Lewis confessed to committing the burglary, burning the residence and to being present in the home when the shooting occurred.
Co-defendant Amanda Williams also is charged with second-degree murder and currently is set for trial on February 5, 2018. Louisiana law prohibits the two from being tried at the same time since each claims the other shot the decedent. By law, each defendant is responsible for the death under the felony murder rule, which states if one participates in an aggravated burglary and there is a resultant death, that is second-degree murder.
Lewis faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without benefit of parole, probation or reduction of sentence when he returns to face Judge Dorroh for sentencing January 16, 2018. Lewis’s prior felony convictions include possession of marijuana, third offense, in 2014; possession of marijuana, third offense, in 2011; and possession with intent to distribute a Schedule 1 controlled dangerous substance in 2010.
Caddo DA attorney’s Jason Waltman and Treneisha Hill served as the prosecutors on the case.