Judge sentences Lewis to seven years in prison for burglary

Richland Park resident, Lorenzo Lewis wanted more than a pinch of salt when he entered the home of Janice Howard, back on October 23, 2011.{{more}}

On Wednesday, Justice Wesley James sentenced Lewis to seven years in prison after he was convicted by a nine-member mixed jury on a charge of burglary, at the High Court’s criminal assizes.

He was found not guilty on another charge of aggravated burglary.

On the night of the incident at about 10 :30 p.m., Howard, who knows Lewis very well, had just returned to her home at Richland Park when she met Lewis standing at her gate.

Lewis asked the woman for some salt and she went into her kitchen to get it while he stood outside of the kitchen door. When Howard turned her back, she felt someone come from behind and hold a sharp object to her neck.

The woman turned around and saw it was Lewis. She screamed and Lewis told her several times to shut up.

Howard’s daughter, who was upstairs at the time, heard her mother’s scream and then began shouting.

As a result, Lewis fled the scene.

In his testimony, Lewis admitted that he did go to Howard’s home and ask for the salt. He remained adamant, however, that he never entered the house and that he had seen someone inside a shed in the yard, when he heard a gun shot fired.

Lewis said the woman became scared and he told her that he was going to take care of her.

When asked by Crown Counsel Colin John if he had anything to protect her with, he said no, he was just going to take care of her.(KW)