Man charged with wife's murder

By Angie Thompson/senior reporter

TIFTON February 25, 2008 10:00 pm

— A Tifton man has been charged with the murder of his wife early Monday at the couple’s home in rural Tift County.
According to the incident report filed at the Tift County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy responded to the home at 54 Connell Ray Road at approximately 3:44 a.m. Monday. James Scott Lewis, 39, told the E-911 dispatcher that he thought he had killed his wife, Alisha Caroll Lewis, 39, by choking her. Also, according to the incident report, no substance abuse was involved.
According to Capt. Mike Walker of the TCSO’s Criminal Investigation Division, Lewis has been charged with murder and was being held at the Tift County Jail Monday. Walker said Alisha Caroll Lewis’ body had been sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations crime lab where an autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death. Detectives out of the GBI’s Sylvester office are assisting with the investigation.
Also, according to the incident report, a juvenile was present at the scene when the murder occurred, but the act was not committed with children present.
In unrelated incidents over the weekend, detectives with the Tifton Police Department are investigating reports of two armed robberies, one Saturday and one Sunday.
According to an incident report, a 48-year-old man who lives in the 100 block of 17th Street told the police officer who responded that at 3 a.m. Saturday that he was robbed by several unknown black males. The man said that during the robbery, he was struck in the head several times with a hand gun and the men stole his wallet that contained $10 and a pocket knife valued at $10. The man said the incident happened at Ermine Avenue and Alder Street. The man refused medical treatment.
At 6:15 p.m. Sunday, a Tifton police officer responded to 310 Old Omega Road and talked with Mozelle Jackson, 60, of Sycamore. Jackson was sitting in a lawn chair and the officer noted that there was blood all over his clothing. The officer noted that Jackson had a large laceration above his right eye. Jackson told the officer while they were waiting for an ambulance that he had given two black males a ride from Ashburn to Tifton. He said he had assisted the men with a ride two or three times before and had not had any problems with them and had not felt threatened by the men. This time, Jackson said, he was parking his car at 310 Old Omega Road to drop the men off when they struck him in the head with a pipe and stole approximately $100 from him before fleeing on foot. According to a spokesman with Tift Regional Medical Center, Jackson was treated and dismissed from the hospital’s emergency room Sunday night.

To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.