Continued from January 2026 blog
In 2022, Lewis pleaded guilty to reduced charges of manslaughter and received a deferred judgment, under which she was ordered to serve five years on probation and could ultimately have been eligible to have her felony conviction expunged. Judge David Porter at the time told her that she was receiving her second chance and would not get a third.
But Lewis repeatedly struggled on probation, absconding from a Des Moines transitional facility for women where, she later told the Des Moines Register, she felt overwhelmed and endangered.
She was arrested and pleaded guilty to escape. The court revoked her deferred judgment but placed her on probation again, this time to be sent to a facility in metro Atlanta, in part because Iowa did not have a suitable facility for treating youthful female offenders.
In March 2024, according to court filings, she was removed from that program due to multiple violations of facility rules, and subsequently absconded from probation again.
That was the last known contact between Lewis and law enforcement until Friday, Dec. 19, when she was booked into the Polk County Jail. Lynn Hicks, a spokesman for the Polk County Attorney’s Office, said Lewis voluntarily turned herself in.
“We’re relieved that she’s safe,” Hicks said in an email. “The court has been notified of her arrest, and I expect that a judge will set a bond hearing for her.”
Lt. Mark Chance, a spokesperson for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, said Lewis surrendered herself at the adult probation office in Des Moines. Jail records show she was booked just before 1 p.m.
It was not immediately revealed when she arrived in Iowa or where she has been since her last known contact with a probation officer in Georgia.
Hicks also declined to comment on the possibility of charges against Lewis’ alleged trafficker, a case prior County Attorney John Sarcone said in 2022 was “still at the investigative stage.”
Attorney Matt Sheeley, who represented Lewis previously, said he and his colleagues are no longer her attorneys of record and could not comment beyond expressing relief at her safety and promising continued support. It’s not known if she has any current legal representation, and no new hearings had been scheduled as of Friday afternoon.