MILWAUKEE — The then-17-year-old who was found guilty of raping and killing 36-year-old Ee Lee in Washington Park in September of 2020 was sentenced to 26 years in prison on Friday.
According to Milwaukee County Judge Yamahiro in court, Kamare R. Lewis was sentenced to 45 years, including 26 years of initial confinement.
Lewis was one of two teens accused of sexually assaulting and then killing Lee. The two teens were accused of raping Lee in front of a group of other people, and then beating and dragging her into a pond. Prosecutors described the attack as racially motivated because the suspects said racial slurs at her.
Lewis entered a guilty plea to first-degree reckless homicide, as a party to a crime and 2nd-degree sexual assault, as a party to a crime, according to court records. Lewis is now 19.
Kevin T. Spencer, Jr., then 15, was also charged in the homicide. He is facing 1st-degree reckless homicide and 2nd-degree sexual assault/use of force, according to court records.
A criminal complaint states that the suspects found Lee minding her own business in the park, and began to harass her. The harassment quickly escalated into physical and sexual violence against the victim. They eventually pulled her to a pond and left her for dead, according to prosecutors. One of the suspects appears to have recorded the attack in a video and shared it online.
Lee died in the hospital three days later.
The complaint states that law enforcement received a 911 call on the night of Sept. 16, 2020 about an unconscious, half-naked woman lying on the ground next to the pond at Washington Park in Milwaukee. The victim, later identified as Ee Lee, was still breathing, two bystanders reported at the time. It appeared Lee had been severely beaten and left for dead.
Milwaukee County first responders arrived and determined Lee had been sexually assaulted and sustained multiple, severe contusions to her face and head. They brought her to Froedtert Hospital for treatment. Lee's clothes were found scattered nearby.
Lee was later pronounced dead on Sept. 19, three days after she was found. The Medical Examiner's Office determined her death was a homicide. Their report noted severe injuries across the victim's body.
Surveillance video in Washington Park identified five to six people potentially involved in the incident. The people were seen running from the area where Lee's body was later found. The video, which is dark and grainy, investigators note, further shows the attack against Lee occurring under a tree. The video then shows at least two people dragging or carrying the victim's body to the pond, where she is left for dead, the complaint states.
Another surveillance video from the Washington Park Library appears to show a group of 11 people leaving the park. MCTS bus video footage also shows a group of five people leaving the park after the assault is believed to have taken place. One of the people, identified as the defendant, Kemare R. Lewis, is seen walking in his socks with his shoes in one hand, according to the complaint.
One of the bystanders who called 911 after finding Lee in the park appears to have walked with the two defendants and others. After being confronted, the person, known in the complaint as LJ, told investigators that they saw Lewis and another person beating the victim and forcing her to perform sex acts. LJ identified the other suspect involved from video as Kevin Spencer.
In an interview, the second initial bystander, identified in the complaint as KA, also said they witnessed part of what happened. KA said the defendants beat the victim.
Both KA and LJ admitted that video of the attack, reportedly captured by Lewis, was uploaded to Facebook Messenger. KA admitted to deleting the video, the complaint states.
The mother of KA contacted detectives on Jan. 12, 2021 regarding that video, and told them they may be able to retrieve the video from KA's old cell phone. The mother also said she had seen the video and confirmed the identifies of the two suspects recorded in the video. She added that besides the two suspects, she could see "a lot of little kids standing around" in the park. She also said Lewis was the one to send her son, KA, the video.
Another person of interest, identified as KG, told investigators that not long after the attack, suspect Kevin Spencer called him and admitted Specer and Lewis attacked and assaulted the victim.
On Feb, 5, 2021 Kamare Lewis told investigators in an interview that he and Kevin Spencer, along with KG, came upon Ee Lee on a blanket in the park. Lewis said they started harassing her and KG was going through her belongings looking for money.
Lewis admitted to hitting the victim, but tried to downplay his role, the complaint states, and that "others" also beat the victim. He claimed that LJ and KG also participated in varying degrees.
During at least two interviews, Lewis said he never called 911 because he thought Lee was dead or soon to be dead "and it wouldn't have made a difference and that he didn't really care about her because she is not someone he knows personally," according to the complaint.
Preliminary results of DNA analysis indicated that Lewis and Spencer likely left DNA on the victim and her clothing found at the scene of the homicide, the Wisconsin State Regional Crime Laboratory states in the complaint.
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