New details emerge about recent home invasion, shooting

May 31—New details have emerged concerning a recent home-invasion where a woman had to be hospitalized following a shooting at an apartment complex in Baldwin County, The Union-Recorder has learned.

The new information was obtained from reports filed by Baldwin County Sheriff's Office Deputy Sgt. Ernesto Lopez and Deputies Cecilio Reyes and Saralynn Henderson.

The crimes took place May 10, shortly before 9 a.m. in the T-Building of the 49 West Apartments.

Authorities believe the crimes stemmed from an abusive relationship between the suspect, Josguam De'Angelo Lewis, 19, of Sparta, and the victim, Zaelon Sinclair Jones, 19, of Milledgeville.

The couple has a child together.

Jones temporarily had been staying with her cousin, Tierra Rashon Turner at the apartment complex as a result of the abusive relationship she had been experiencing with Lewis, according to a report by Reyes.

The deputy said Turner told him that her cousin had an active stay away order issued against Lewis. The order was issued in Hancock County due the reported abuse and recent attempts to try and harm both Jones and the couple's child.

Reyes said Turner told him that she and Jones were in the process of moving out of the apartment complex and that Jones had gone downstairs to put items into a U-Haul truck, parked out front of the T-Building.

Turner said her cousin was gone for a while, and didn't see her coming back. She said she became concerned so she reached her by phone. Jones answered, and was overheard yelling, "Joe, put the gun down."

Reyes said Turner told him that she then stepped outside her upstairs apartment and saw Jones and Lewis running upstairs out of a vacant apartment below. Jones made it to her cousin's door and then quickly slammed the door.

Moments later, Lewis reportedly broke through the front door of the apartment and began shooting, Turner told the deputy.

"Turner stated she feared for her life and snuck out behind Lewis and ran towards the front of the apartment complex," Reyes said in his report.

The woman said she ran into the parking lot and hid behind a car because she was wearing no clothes at the time.

Turner said she later noticed Lewis walking back down from her apartment to his car. She said while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, she provided a description of the car Lewis was driving when he left the apartment complex, as well as the direction of his travel.

Once Reyes arrived on the scene, he said he walked with Turner back to her apartment, and noticed a trail of blood.

Immediately the deputy said he asked Turner if she had been injured. She replied she had not been injured.

Once they made it back to the upstairs apartment, Reyes made sure no one else was inside and then asked if she had any idea where Jones was.

A short time later, it was discovered that Jones' Nissan Versa was no longer parked next to the moving truck. And that was where the trail of blood stopped.

Lewis, meanwhile, later called 911. Reyes said the dispatcher advised other deputies of the suspect's location and they immediately responded and took him into custody.

Deputy Henderson said she assisted sheriff's office detectives in the arrest of the suspect that took place on Georgia Route 29 near Camp Creek Bridge.

She said she secured a Smith & Wesson AR-15 rifle.

Henderson said the rifle was in plain view in the back seat of Lewis' 2010 Honda Accord, which was later towed to the sheriff's office impound lot for evidence purposes.

Reyes said a dispatcher later indicated officers with the Atrium Health Police Department had notified 911 that Jones had driven herself to Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin hospital in Milledgeville. The victim sustained two gunshot wounds.

At the hospital, Deputy Sgt. Lopez talked with the victim, who informed him that Lewis shot her.

The deputy said Jones told him that after Lewis kicked in the door of her cousin's apartment and began shooting that she returned gunfire, too.

Jones said she used her Taurus handgun, which she had gotten for personal protection. The handgun, along with the victim's car were later taken to the sheriff's office impound lot for evidence purposes as well.

The victim has since been released from the hospital.

Lewis remains jailed in Baldwin County on charges of two counts of aggravated assault, one count of aggravated stalking, and one count of home-invasion in the first degree.