The conviction and sentence for a Lake Charles man who killed his wife because he thought she had cheated on him and then turned his gun on his stepdaughter will stand.

A jury unanimously found Sheron Lamar Lewis guilty on Jan. 27, 2023, of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

According to testimony, Lewis thought wife Kenesha Spencer was cheating on him. The morning of her death, she had kicked him out of the house and dropped his clothing off at the neighbor’s house where he was staying.

When Lewis returned home, he shot Spencer 14 times — which prosecutor Jacob Johnson said “shows specific intent to kill.”

Lewis also shot his stepdaughter multiple times, but she managed to call 911. The stepdaughter testified that after Lewis shot her, he returned to her mother and continued shooting. She said as he left, he told her she better be dead when he came back or he’d shoot her in the head.

The stepdaughter said she pretended to be dead to survive and testified she was shot five times in the abdomen and hospitalized for three months.

Lewis was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence for the murder conviction; 50 years at hard labor without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence for the attempted first-degree murder charge; and 15 years on the possession charge.

Lewis appealed his conviction, citing the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new trial four days after he was convicted. In that motion, Lewis challenged the jury venire, specifically alleging jury summonses were defective because they did not implement the 2021 amendment to the criminal code that allows convicted felons to serve on juries provided that they “not be under indictment, incarcerated under an order of imprisonment, or on probation or parole for a felony offense within the five-year period immediately preceding the person’s jury service.” Lewis said because of this his constitutional right to an impartial trial was violated because the jury was not made up of a cross-section of the community.

Lewis also argued a new trial was proper because evidence concerning the defective summonses was new, material, and not discovered before or during his trial.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal denied Lewis’ claim saying his legal team had actual notice of the jury summonses issued in connection with this case prior to trial. Because he did not raise issues concerning the drawing of the jury venire prior to trial, Lewis “waived this issue.”