18-YEAR-OLD BAPCHULE MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS IN
PRISON FOR SECOND DEGREE MURDER

PHOENIX Ariz. – On January 22, 2008, 18-year-old Alvin Lewis, Jr. of Bapchule, Arizona was sentenced to 25 years prison by U.S. District Judge James Teilborg. Alvin Lewis Jr. had pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder involving a brutal homicide of 23-year-old Ursula Simms.

The facts show that on July 19, 2007, defendant was with the victim, driving around on the Gila River Indian Reservation. The defendant and victim were friends and acquaintances through their employment. Defendant was intoxicated and drove the victim to a remote area of the reservation. There, he beat her with rock and repeatedly stabbed her, causing her death. He used a rope to drag her body to a shallow grave and left her in the desert.

When the victim did not return home, her family filed a missing persons report. Defendant became a suspect because he was still in possession of the victim’s car after her death. Weeks after the homicide, defendant admitted to murdering the girl and he led police to her badly decomposed body. There was no apparent motive for the killing and defendant did not offer an explanation for the murder.

Defendant was 17-years-old at the time he committed the crime. Defendant agreed to be treated as an adult in exchange for a plea agreement to Second Degree Murder. Defendant’s plea agreement called for a sentence of between 15 and 25 years and the judge sentenced him to 25 years. The judge noted that the beating was especially cruel and heinous.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Gila River Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The prosecution was handled by Sharon K. Sexton, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix, Ariz.

CASE NUMBER: CR-07-1183-PHX-JAT
RELEASE NUMBER: 2008-011(Lewis)