Real work now begins to build case in murder arrests
By Lee Peck
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MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — A year after one of the Port City’s most horrific murder cases — four people now stand accused of the deaths of Tony and Leila Lewis.
Their murders sent shockwaves through the Happy Hill community after their home on Dr. Thomas Avenue was shot up and eventually caught fire from an explosion.
By all accounts — the elderly couple were innocent victims. Early on in the investigation — the killings said to be connected to their rapper grandson Honeycomb Brazy’s enemies.
“It took a long time for us to get to this point. We were fully optimistic from the very beginning that we knew who was responsible for committing the offense,” said Lawrence Battiste, Mobile Public Safety Director.
Batiste was Chief of Police at the time of the murders and says the arrests of Darrin “DD” Jamark Southall, Terrence Sanchez Watkins, and Jamarcus Devonta Chambers have been a long time coming. He says they’re still searching for a fourth unidentified suspect. It’s a major breakthrough in the case.
“We feel very confident that those individuals we have either arrested are pending arrest are the people that are directly responsible. We know now that we are into a phase of additional investigation and may lead us to gathering information — maybe other people were responsible or at least took part,” said Battiste.
While Southall is accused of ordering the hit on the Tony and Leila Lewis with the help of the other three — Battiste says now begins the real work to prove it.
“It’s a great day — but it’s just the beginning because it’s easy to put handcuffs on just about anybody. We have to get from the arrests to the successful prosecution now. So, there is still a lot that has to be done with this investigation,” said Battiste.
Separately on Friday, a federal judge sentenced Southall to 35 years in prison for drug and escape convictions.
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