Man with abuse history guilty of murder

Wife’s killing triggered domestic violence procedure changes

A Houston father whose history of domestic abuse triggered a change in how domestic violence cases are handled in Harris County pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering his girlfriend.

Albee Lewis, 32, fatally shot his girlfriend as she fled their apartment last year. She had previously reported him for domestic violence assaults five times in three years, but responding police never arrested him.

The shooting death of Ashanti Hunter — in front of her three children last April — was a catalyst for an extensive initiative by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and area law enforcement to document and prosecute choking incidents more severely.

Hunter’s case highlights research that suspects who strangle or choke their significant others during assaults are more likely to kill them later, prosecutors say.

“In this case, there was prior abuse and at least two of those cases included strangulation,” said Carvana Cloud, a chief prosecutor in Harris County District Attorney’s Office who recently created a strangulation task force. “Her case has been the impetus for all the change we’ve got going on in Harris County.” Choking the victim

A non-fatal strangulation is often the last step before domestic violence turns deadly, usually in a fatal shooting, according to prosecutors and experts.

“Strangulation continues to a clear indicator of homicide,” Cloud said. “It’s unfortunate that we lost this life, but it proves what we’ve been saying: We need to hold these people accountable before it turns fatal.”

Lewis pleaded guilty to murder in state District Judge Denise Bradley’s court in exchange for a 50-year prison sentence. He admitted to killing the 32year-old mother of his child at a north Harris County complex as she fled their apartment on April 30, 2017.

His attorney, Beth Exley, declined to comment on the case.

In court, Hunter’s mother Debra Wright, gave a victim impact statement saying she was disappointed in Lewis because she had treated him like a son after her daughter fell in love with him.

“It’s been tough, but we’re getting through it,” she said after the hearing. “At least I still have my grandchildren.”

Lewis and Hunter started arguing in their apartment that day around 3 p.m. It escalated into a physical fight, witnesses told responding deputies with the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Hunter tried to escape with her three children, one of whom was Lewis' child, by running out the apartment and getting in a car owned by a cousin. The cousin had just stopped by with her three kids.

Lewis followed Hunter out of the apartment and fired multiple shots at her as she was getting in the car, fatally wounding her. He then ran away.

One of her children called authorities. At least one other child, an 11-year-old, was in the car during the shooting, deputies said after the arrest.

Lewis went to a Studio 6 hotel in the 16000 block of the North Freeway. It was there, sheriff’s deputies said, that he called 911 and turned himself in.

Cloud said abused women who call 911 often do not have physical signs of trauma so police chalk up the incident to a case of “he said/she said” and do not arrest either party. Officers use a checklist

Cloud and area partners in law enforcement, like HPD Chief Art Acevedo, changed that by requiring officers to go through a short checklist to determine if there has been strangulation.

The officer will then document the evidence, like suspicious bruising or victims “seeing stars” which bolster the case for prosecutors.

“We know that visible injuries are not going to be present in 60 percent of these cases,” Cloud said. “So now, officers know to ask about their breathing, any voice changes, any loss of consciousness, anything that will prove that bloodflow or airflow was impeded.”

Hunter’s murder was preceded by a string of violent attacks by Lewis, none of which resulted in the arrest of her boyfriend.

Hunter reported called police in 2014 and reported that Lewis grabbed her by the neck, choked her and punched her. He was not arrested.

A year later, he choked her until she thought she was going to pass out and told her she would die if she left him.

He was not charged then either.

Five months later, in 2015, she reported that he assaulted her again. Lewis was not arrested then.

In 2016, police arrived to find Hunter holding a knife in selfdefense. She told officers Lewis had thrown her to the ground in an argument over money.

In February 2017, Hunter reported that Lewis hit her in the face but declined to file charges after being told Child Protective Services would be contacted. She also did not want him jailed because he helped support the family.

It was 82 days later when Lewis gunned down Hunter as she tried to run for her life in a relative’s car.