Ex-D.C. Govt. Worker Found Guilty After Killing Unarmed Boy, 13 [Video]

A former Washington, D.C. government worker has been found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed teenage boy he had accused of breaking into cars in his neighborhood, authorities said.

Jason Lewis, 42, was handed down the guilty verdict by a D.C. Superior Court jury on Friday, Aug. 16, in connection with the 2023 killing of 13-year-old Karon Blake, according to a press release shared by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The jury acquitted Lewis of a second-degree murder charge.

According to the Associated Press, The Washington Post and a DC News Now, Lewis was a longtime D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation employee and was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 31, 2023, after surrendering to police in connection with the case.

Lewis argued he acted in self-defense when he shot at two young children — one of whom was Blake — he believed were breaking into cars in his Northeast, D.C., …