Ivey Lewis is a woman from Tacoma Washington who has been charged in the murder of her three year old son. According to police reports officers arrived at the residence and found a three year old boy who was cold to the touch and unfortunately even after life saving techniques were used the boy would be pronounced dead at the scene.
The child whose face was badly bruised also had other injuries on his body. Ivey Lewis would tell police that her son repeatedly ran into a wall. Police who also saw marks on the child’s body that appear after a person is tased. Ivey Lewis who just received the three year old back into her home from foster care was arrested and charged with murder.
Ivey Lewis More News
A 25-year-old woman was charged with murder after her 3-year-old son was found dead and “cold to the touch” inside an apartment in Tacoma Sunday evening.
The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Ivey Lewis, 25, with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder on Tuesday. Lewis pleaded not guilty to the charges in Pierce County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon. A judge set bail at $2 million and said Lewis cannot have any contact with her surviving 1-year-old child.
Ivey Lewis is currently in custody while pregnant with her third child.
According to the Tacoma Police Department (TPD), officers responded to an apartment complex on the 3200 block of South Mason Avenue around 7:35 p.m. Sunday for a welfare check after receiving a report of an unresponsive child in the home.
Court documents show a man who was a friend of Lewis’ called 911 after going to the apartment after the Super Bowl to “hang out.” The man told officers that Lewis said she thought something was wrong with her son.
The 911 caller said the 3-year-old was on the bedroom floor wrapped in a blanket and that the child was “not responsive and appeared cold to the touch.” The man then told Lewis to call 911 and ran to a nearby store to call 911 himself, documents say.
Responding officers were told by Ivey Lewis that her 3-year-old son was unresponsive in the bedroom. TPD officers located the 3-year-old inside the bedroom lying on his back on the bed. Lewis’ 1-year-old child was also in the room sitting on the bed next to the 3-year-old’s body, according to court documents.
TPD officers attempted to give the toddler CPR, but “it was quickly obvious” that the child was dead and could not be revived. Court documents say the 3-year-old was “very stiff,” and that “there was no pulse.” The Tacoma Fire Department declared the boy dead at the scene just before 8 p.m.
While attempting to treat the 3-year-old, officers noted there were multiple bruises on the child’s face that “appeared to be fresh.” Court documents say the child’s face was also discolored and that there were “obvious burn marks” and cuts on his face.
Officers also observed other injuries to the child, including “small scabs to his midsection,” trauma to the front of the child’s head and swelling above the eyebrow.
Other marks on the child’s body “appeared consistent with being struck with an object.” There were multiple similar injuries of different colors and shades, documents say, “indicating the injuries were likely inflicted at different times.”
Court documents show there were also injuries to the boy’s chest, sides, arms and legs that were “consistent with being struck with an object.” Several small marks on the child’s chest also “appeared to coincide with an electronic shock device (taser) located on the kitchen table,” according to court documents.
Ivey Lewis told TPD officers that her son had run into the wall “multiple times” and hit his head recently and that “he did that regularly.” According to court documents, Lewis told police her son had been sleeping next to the living room heater when she found that he was unresponsive. Lewis said she then picked her son up and moved him into the bedroom before the officers arrived.
TPD officers noted in court documents that the living room heater was “on maximum” when they arrived at the apartment and that “the apartment was so hot that one of the officers reported that it was difficult to breathe inside.”
Responding officers also noted in court documents that the living area and apartment’s kitchen were both dirty and “did not appear to be well kept.”
KOMO News spoke to some of Lewis’ neighbors, who were surprised to hear about the allegations, given how she spoke about her kids.
“She talked about them like they were her everything,” one neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said, “It was very surprising – it was sad more than anything.”
“To know that she loves her kids, she talks about her kids, she cares about her kids, everything she was doing was for her kids,” the neighbor shared, “It seems crazy she would be accused of such a thing, and her kids were the world to her.”
During an interview, Ivey Lewis told investigators that she was under supervision by Child Protective Services. Court documents say that the 3-year-old had been in foster care from when he was about 10 months old until about six months before his death.
Ivey Lewis denied using narcotics other than marijuana, but later admitted to using methamphetamine several days before the 3-year-old was found unresponsive, court documents say.
Court documents show Lewis’ 1-year-old child that was also at the apartment was taken to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital for a medical evaluation. Medical staff said the child had methamphetamine in his system.
“The state has filed an aggravated factor of deliberate cruelty due to the number, type and severity of the victim’s injuries,” a Pierce County prosecutor said in court Tuesday, “These injuries show the defendant is a danger to others, particularly her surviving 1-year old child who likely had methamphetamine in his system at the time. “
Court documents say the state will “likely file an additional charge” against Ivey Lewis once the state confirms the 1-year-old had methamphetamine in his system.