MIDLAND, Texas — Midland County District Attorney Laura Nodolf has announced that 31-year-old Kionne Devaughn Lewis has been sentenced to life in prison and 20 years after being found guilty of capital murder and aggravated assault.
After evidence lasting most of the week, the jury found Lewis guilty of both charges late Thursday afternoon after about an hour deliberating.
Because the State was not seeking the death penalty for capital murder, the sentence after the jury’s guilty verdict was an automatic term of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The evidence presented in the case showed that the defendant killed his former girlfriend, 28-year-old Travae Monique Jackson, after breaking into her West Midland apartment in the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2021.
After killing Jackson, Lewis then used her cellphone and pretended to be her in order to lure another man, Matisse Guidroz, to the apartment. Once Guidroz arrived he was shot twice by Lewis but managed to escape and notify police. Lewis fled the scene but was apprehended the next day in Roswell, New Mexico when he was brought back to Midland where he has remained in custody until the trial.
The case was investigated by the Midland Police Department with assistance from the Texas Rangers.
The 20-year sentence for aggravated assault will be served at the same time as the life sentence.