A man who police still believe was involved in the murder of two University international students more than three years ago was arrested earlier this month in the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy.
Michael Jermaine Lewis was arrested in the Feb. 16 shooting death of Christopher Williams, who was shot while buying candy from a home on St. Gerard Avenue, according to Baton Rouge Police Department Spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely.
Lewis and two others were arrested in spring 2008 for the murders of Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam.
The two Indian international students were robbed and murdered inside the Edward Gay Apartments where Allam lived in December 2007.
Although investigators believe all three men were involved in the murders, only one of the three, Devin Parker, was indicted by a grand jury, allowing Lewis to go free.
“I feel, personally, we had enough evidence to indict all three, but obviously the grand jury didn’t feel the same way,” Maj.
Lawrence Rabalais, LSU Police Department Police Chief, told The Daily Reveille on Oct. 21, 2009. “It is frustrating. It was a gambit of well-experienced, seasoned veterans that were involved in this investigation, and I think if you ask any of them who were involved, they would tell you when we arrested those three people, we had the right people.”
Although the initial indictment failed, investigators say Lewis is still a person of interest, and his latest arrest could lead to something in the campus homicides.
“No new evidence has surfaced, but we do believe this could open up some doors for us,” said LSUPD Spokesman Det. Jason Bettencourtt.
Bettencourtt said there is a possibility that information about previous homicides could resurface as part of a plea deal because Lewis is now facing other charges.
The homicides were initially investigated by a consortium of detectives from various agencies, and Bettencourtt said representatives meet several times a year to discuss the murders.
The trial for Devin Parker is ongoing.
 
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Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]