Mother of alleged University Place killer shaken by sudden turn

Joseph Lester and Keisha Lewis spent part of Monday working on their relationship with their baby girl.

But later in the day, the two got into a fight that left 21-year-old Lewis dead of stab wounds and her boyfriend on the run with their 9-month-old daughter.

Hours later, Lester, 23, accompanied by a lawyer, turned himself in to police at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup and handed over his baby girl unharmed.

Police say Lester and Lewis fought in the front yard of a duplex in the 6000 block of 57th Avenue West in University Place where Lewis was living.

She was stabbed several times and died in the kitchen with her toddler son and godmother nearby.

Pierce County prosecutors are expected to charge Lester, 23, today in connection with the slaying.

Investigators on Tuesday were piecing together what sparked the fatal confrontation that led to Lewis’ death.

Meanwhile, the baby girl and Lewis’ toddler son were placed in state protective custody while social workers sorted out where they should go.

“She was all smiles at the hospital,” sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said of the baby. “She was smiling and laughing.”

The turn of events left Lester’s mother baffled.

“We don’t know what happened,” said Cassandra Spencer, who has raised the 9-month-old since she was born. “I know they had their problems, but not to this extent.”

Spencer said Lewis and her son had been spending more time with their daughter, including visits to Spencer’s home for dinner.

“They’d been keeping the baby for a couple days to get to know her,” she said.

Spencer didn’t want to talk in detail about why she’d been raising the girl since birth. She said her son and Lewis had issues but wasn’t more specific.

“They are kids, they are young,” Spencer said. “I am hurting for both of them.”

Lester and Lewis had a history of disputes, Troyer said. A month ago, deputies went to the University Place home after Lewis allegedly stabbed Lester. The two were not cooperative with investigators, and the case went no further, Troyer said.

There were conflicting reports from investigators and relatives on whether Lewis and Lester were still together. A family friend said she was pregnant with Lester’s baby.

Kathleen Gooden, a family friend of Lewis, said she wants more answers.

“I want to see what went down,” Gooden said. “Keisha’s gone. I don’t understand.”

Though Lester and his daughter were the focus of an Amber Alert on Monday, he was not expected to be charged with kidnapping his daughter, Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said.

To charge a person with kidnapping, prosecutors must demonstrate the suspect abducted the victim and held the victim for ransom or caused physical harm.

“He brought the 9-month-old to the scene, and the child is his,” Lindquist said. “There are no facts to support a kidnapping charge.”

Though Lester has been convicted of three felonies in his life, he was not a candidate for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release under the state’s “three strikes” law.

His convictions were for first-degree theft, first-degree robbery and attempted first-degree robbery. Only the first-degree robbery conviction was a strike offense, Lindquist said.

Under Washington law, a majority of felonies are not considered strike offenses. Only serious, violent offenses, including murder, are considered strike crimes, Lindquist said.

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268
stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime