DC employee Jason Lewis charged in shooting death of 13-year-old Karon Blake

September 2024 · 3 minute read

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A Washington, DC employee was charged with murder in the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy who desperately yelled “sorry” and said he was “only 12” after he was shot, according to court docs.

Jason Lewis, a longtime Parks and Recreation Department employee, was taken into custody for second-degree murder on Tuesday — weeks after teen Karon Blake was killed in the pre-dawn shooting.

Blake and his friends allegedly broke into parked cars across from the boy’s middle school and in Lewis’ neighborhood before the fatal encounter on Jan. 7, authorities said.

The deadly shooting led to community outrage as the city’s police chief faced growing pressure to either arrest or at least identify the suspected shooter.

Blake and a group of teens were apparently robbing parked cars near Lewis’ home, according to an arrest warrant. Blake also allegedly ran straight at Lewis, 41, before he began shooting from his property.

Police relied on footage from other homes on the block, and in an arrest warrant detailed how Blake pleaded for his life after he was shot.

Flowers are secured to a pole as a memorial to Karon Blake, 13, on the corner of Quincy Street NE and Michigan Avenue NE in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington. AP

“The decedent (Blake) can then be heard yelling, ‘I am sorry’ numerous times, followed by ‘Please don’t’ and ‘No’ numerous times. The decedent yells, ‘I am a kid’ and ‘I am only 12’ numerous times,” the warrant states.

Metropolitan Police Department chief Robert Contee said the weeks-long probe took the required time necessary.

“There was somewhat of a self-defense claim that needed to be overcome,” Contee said.

Lewis’ attorney Lee Smith said his client was innocent.

“While this is certainly a tragedy, once all the facts are heard, I believe the jury will find that there was no crime here,” Smith said in a statement.

Metropolitan Police Department chief Robert Contee talks during a press conference. NBC News 4

The footage has yet to be released, but the warrant says it shows Blake and others leaving what was a stolen car and breaking into other parked cars in the neighborhood. Contee said the youths were peering into cars with flashlights and going into them.

Lewis is charged with firing first at Blake while he was sitting inside the stolen car. In the confusion from that first shot, Blake apparently ran straight at Lewis before he was fatally wounded, police said.

“The first shot was fired … at someone sitting in a vehicle who wasn’t an immediate threat,” Contee said Tuesday. Once the first shot went off, when Lewis was not under personal threat was, is “where things really unraveled” that led to Blake’s death, Contee said.

Homicide detectives search for evidence and speak with residents on Quincy Street in Washington, D.C. on January 12, 2023, nearly one week after a district government employee fatally shot Karon Blake. Associated Press

“I don’t know if (Blake) knew that Mr. Lewis was standing where he was standing,” Contee said as he encouraged other teens with Blake that night to come forward. 

Lewis was held without bail until a court appearance on Feb. 13.

With Post wires

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