Husband charged in murder of missing Newport News woman

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – Adrian Lewis has been charged with first degree murder in the death of his wife Shanita Eure-Lewis, Newport News police confirmed Tuesday. Her family reported the 35-year-old missing Sunday.

The criminal complaint in this case paints a detailed timeline of this case, prior to Mr. Lewis’ arrest. Click here for updated information on this investigation.

Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew held a press conference Tuesday at 2 p.m. with updates on this investigation. The full briefing is posted above.

Chief Drew confirmed Tuesday that evidence recovered in this case led them to obtain warrants for Mr. Lewis’ arrest. They took him into custody at Dulles International Airport in Loudoun County, Virginia, early Tuesday morning, around 3 a.m.. He had a plane ticket bound for Jamaica. In addition to the murder charge, Lewis was also charged with use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Chief Drew said there is a team searching for Mrs. Eure-Lewis’ body. He said there are a couple of key locations where they are looking, but they are not giving more information out to the public as to not impede on evidence.

“My heart goes out to Mrs. Eure’s family, especially her children, as well as the Gethsemane Baptist Church community,” Chief of Police Steve Drew said. “We are doing everything we can to find her and bring her loved ones some closure.”

WAVY’s Andy Fox asked if Adrian Lewis has confessed. Chief Drew said “he has not made an admission.”

Eure-Lewis was last seen around 9 a.m. Sunday at Gethsemane Baptist Church between church services.

Virginia State Police issued an Ashanti Alert Monday to help get the word out beyond Hampton Roads, believing she was possibly endangered.

Eure-Lewis’s neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified, told WAVY he saw her leave in her husband’s black truck around 9 a.m. Sunday. Police confirmed on Tuesday the she was in fact seen leaving her home with her husband Sunday around 9:40 a.m.

“She has got out and got in the car with him. They were talking normal to me. They weren’t arguing then,” he said.

Eure-Lewis’s neighbor said her normal routine for church was to take her two boys.

“She leaves most of the time, she goes to church, the boys go with her, but he don’t go,” he said.

The neighbor told 10 On Your Side this time, she went with her husband. He said he didn’t see the kids get into the truck.

A member of the church community who asked to not be identified said that Eure-Lewis regularly works on church services throughout the week, and just planned an anniversary commemoration for Pastor Dwight Riddick.

NNPD Chief Drew said the truck Shanita was last seen in was located in Hampton Monday afternoon. It was processed and evidence was recovered, he said.

The Newport News Police Department served a search warrant around 5 p.m. Monday. The forensic team went in with brown paper bags and towed two cars out of the driveway.

“We are not going to leave any stone unturned. I want to make sure there is nothing inside of that house,” he said.

 The case transitioned to a homicide investigation based on all the evidence that was recovered.

On Monday, WAVY reached out to State Police to clarify conflicting information from law enforcement. As a result, VSP issued several corrections to their original news release.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Newport News Police Department at 757-928-4245.

NNPD was at a gathering at Gethsemane Baptist Church at 5 p.m. Monday, where flyers were passed out in the search for Eure-Lewis.