5th Tacoma Homicide of 2023: Prince Lewis
I’ve been writing about Tacoma homicides for almost twenty years. Before that I worked in police records for a few years. Once a month one of us would volunteer to write up the police reports that involved Child Protective Services. If you are someone who cares about human life, it’s difficult to read what some people do to children.
I don’t usually talk about myself in these posts about homicides. But I’d rather tell you where I’m coming from than tell you about the short, brutal life of Prince Lewis.
Just after the Superbowl on Sunday, February 12th, a friend of 3-year-old Prince Lewis’s 25-year-old mother came by to visit in an apartment in the 3200 block of South Mason. He noticed immediately that the apartment was very hot. The heater was all the way up. Prince was in his bedroom on his bed, cold to the touch.
The friend told Prince’s mother to call 9-1-1. When she didn’t, he left and called 9-1-1 from a nearby convenience store.
Officers arrived at 7:35pm, upon being let in one of the officers found it so hot that it was difficult for him to breathe. Prince’s mother told them that her son was unresponsive in his bedroom. They performed CPR, but Prince was dead at the scene becoming Tacoma’s fifth homicide of 2023. When asked why she had not called 9-1-1 earlier she said she did not know what to do.
Prince’s mother had only recently regained custody of him and was under supervision by Child Protective Services. Preliminary examination of Prince found cuts, burns, bruises, and abrasions all over his body. Some were fresh. Others weren’t. They found a taser, a frayed electrical cord and a belt, each linked to injuries found on Prince’s body. A one-year-old found at the residence tested positive for methamphetamine. During her arrest, Prince’s mother claimed she was pregnant.
When debating with someone about the existence of evil, one might use this case as evidence. There can be no excuse and no explanation that will justify the horrific events of Prince Lewis’s life. He never had a chance to do much but suffer. His mother has a lengthy criminal record and I have no idea the circumstances of her upbringing or her life that led her to be someone who can only technically be referred to as a ‘mother’.
I can only say that if you’re having trouble being a parent, please, please, please get help. Child Protective Services has a good list of resources that can help you if you’re struggling with your parental responsibilities.
It’s a tragedy that we’ll never get to find out who Prince Lewis would have been. After careful consideration, I’m leaving the comments off on this one.
- Jack Cameron