Missing Newport News woman’s husband charged with first-degree murder, arrested while trying to leave the country
Newport News police charged a man Tuesday with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, who was reported missing this weekend after she left church services with the man and didn’t return.
Adrian Salvatore Lewis, 49, was stopped by federal law enforcement Monday morning at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia where police said he planned to fly to Jamaica. His wife, Shanitia Mikell Eure, 35, of Newport News, was reported missing Sunday after her family was unable to get in touch with her.
Eure typically attended two Sunday church services at Gethsemane Baptist Church in Newport News. Church members saw Eure leave after the morning service and get into a 2014 Chevy Silverado with Lewis. When she didn’t show for the second, her family became concerned and reported her missing.
Her body has not been found, but Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said during a news conference Tuesday that investigators located evidence — including blood and a bullet casing — that led them to believe Eure is dead.
Lewis is charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and was still in custody in Loudoun County as of Tuesday afternoon.
Locating Eure’s body is now the department’s “number one priority,” Drew said.
“I’m still asking this community if anyone heard anything or saw anything that they might not think is not that important, but it could be very very key to come forward,” Drew said. “My heart goes out to her family ... I’ve made them a promise that we’re going to find their mom, that is my full intention and that is where our resources are being utilized at right now.”
Eure was last seen by her two children leaving their home with Lewis at about 9:40 a.m. on Sunday, according to a Newport News police spokesperson. The chief said Lewis purchased one plane ticket for Jamaica the day Eure was reported missing, but wasn’t sure when he flew to Dulles from the Norfolk International Airport.
The Newport News Police Department initially sent out an alert at 2:05 p.m. Monday stating Eure was “possibly endangered,” which was followed less than an hour later by an alert from the Virginia State Police describing her as being in “extreme danger.”
But by that point, federal authorities had already stopped Lewis at Dulles. U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained him for questioning at 10:45 a.m. Monday, according to a statement from the agency. Authorities searched his baggage and discovered Eure’s passport and credit cards inside. While Lewis was being held at Dulles, he refused to talk to police without an attorney present, according to CBP.
Police upgraded the investigation from a missing person case to a homicide case due to a combination of evidence, including the recovery of the 2014 Chevy Silverado at the Relax Inn in Hampton. Blood was found inside the vehicle, which Lewis had taken to be cleaned, and a bullet casing was found outside the truck, Drew said. Eure’s sister told police that she encountered Lewis at about 3:45 p.m. Sunday at a dumpster disposing of items, which were later found to include Eure’s purse, her shoes, and a shovel, according to Drew.
Lewis was texting with members of Eure’s family, including her sister, after her disappearance, Drew confirmed, adding there is some indication that Lewis may have been responding from Eure’s phone.
“It’s not the one thing, it’s the totality,” the chief said of what led investigators to bring charges against Lewis. “It’s the behavior, it’s phone messages, who is sending phone messages back to the sister, it’s the items discovered inside that vehicle, it is items recovered inside the dumpster ... All of those things play a part.”
Police encourage anyone with knowledge of Eure’s whereabouts to call the department at 757–247–2500. Eure is a black female with black hair and brown eyes. She is approximately 5-foot-7 and 178 pounds. She was last seen wearing a cream-colored pants suit with flat beige shoes.
Gavin Stone, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com
