NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – The husband of Shanita Eure-Lewis was arraigned Wednesday morning on first-degree murder and firearm charges related to her disappearance.
Adrian Lewis appeared in Newport News JDR court via video. He is still in custody in Loudoun County, Virginia, where he was arrested early Tuesday morning.
There were no cameras allowed in the courtroom for Wednesday’s arraignment, but WAVY’s Andy Fox reports that Lewis said he had $800 in cash on him, which he was presumably taking to Jamaica when he was apprehended by authorities at Dulles International Airport as he prepared to board a flight.
Lewis was assigned a court-appointed attorney. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 23.
Meanwhile, law enforcement continues to search for Eure-Lewis’ body.
Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said that the evidence recovered in this case was enough for them to obtain warrants for Lewis’ arrest, even without a body or confession.
Eure-Lewis’ family reported her missing Sunday after she didn’t return to church as planned and then couldn’t be reached throughout the day.
The case transitioned from a missing person to a homicide investigation based on the evidence police recovered.
Chief Drew said he believes her time of death was sometime between 9:30 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. Sunday.
10 On Your Side’s investigative team learned that Adrian Lewis has been in trouble with the law before. In 2000, he was found guilty of malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and sentenced to 13 years, with 10 years suspended. WAVY is working to learn more about the circumstances surrounding this case.
Back on South Avenue, neighbors are troubled by what happened.
“He seemed to be a nice guy. You can never tell these days, you know,” says neighbor Michael Pendergrass.
Lewis helped him after someone slashed Pendergrass’ tire.
Michael remembers Shanita always watching their two children play basketball.
“They are always playing basketball. They got a net down there and always playing,” Pendergrass said.
It appears marital problems between the two may have put in motion what happened. Shanita wanted a divorce, and he accused her of infidelity. The criminal complaint states on July 5 Shanita told Adrian she wanted a divorce.
Police found Lewis’s pickup truck in the Relax Inn parking lot on Mercury Blvd. Police say Lewis’ friend had detailed the truck, but detectives found lots of blood.
The witness says Adrian told him the blood in the truck was from his dog who was shot by his neighbor, but when police searched the house Sunday, none of the dogs had been shot.