UPDATE: Emotional 911 call played for jurors

Updated at 6:56 p.m.

A jury of six men and six women listened Tuesday afternoon to an excruciating 12-minute 911 call recording at the beginning of the state’s case against a man accused of leaving his handgun in reach of his young son who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2009.

Robert Lewis, 29, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, failure to secure a firearm from a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor related to the Nov. 16, 2009, death of 3-year-old Tyler Lewis. This is the second time he has been tried in the case. A mistrial was declared in March after an Onslow County jury couldn’t reach a verdict.

A former 911 operator testified she quit her job because she was so affected by taking the call Robert Lewis’ now-estranged wife, Kim Lewis, made the day her son shot himself in the head with his father’s handgun.

After the testimony, prosecutors played a recording of the 911 call in which the jury heard a calm dispatcher gather information and give instructions, a frantic Kim Lewis beg for help and the dying child gasp for air and call out for his mother.

Kim Lewis, who has been subpoenaed to testify, was home with the child when he shot himself. She cried while the recording played, then left the courtroom.

Robert Lewis  wiped tears from his eyes when his son’s dying breaths could be heard on the recording.

Robert Lewis’ attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Ernie Wright, said his client — a former Marine, police officer and gun salesman — has lost his son, his wife, his career and his house.

“He did not know when he left for work that his son would be unsupervised,” Wright told the jury. He said Tyler’s death was an unusual, unexpected and tragic accident.

Robert Lewis testified during his first trial that he thought he stored the handgun high enough on a 7-foot piece of furniture to be secure when he left that day.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Mike Maultsby told jurors in his opening statement that the piece of furniture would be brought into the courtroom later in the week and they could determine whether the loaded, cocked Glock 22 .40-caliber handgun was left atop the furniture piece or on Robert Lewis’ nightstand where he normally kept it.

“Tyler Lewis would be alive today if the defendant had followed the law,” Maultsby said. North Carolina General Statutes makes it illegal to leave a firearm in reach of a child.

Earlier, N.C. Superior Court Judge Phyllis Gorham, of Wilmington, denied two motions filed Wright asking the court to limit evidence the jurors would hear in the case.

Wright claimed evidence obtained during a search of the Lewis’ Kanton Hills home by Onslow County Sheriff’s Office detectives should not be heard because they coerced his client’s wife into signing a consent form.

The trial continues Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. with testimony from Robert Lewis’ former gun shop supervisor.

Contact Daily News Senior Reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or lkay@freedomenc.com. Read his crime blog, "Off the Cuff," at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.

The state began its case against Robert Lewis with testimony from a former 911 operator who quit her job because she was so affected by taking the call Lewis' wife, Kim Lewis, made the day her son shot himself in the head with his father's handgun.

After the testimony, prosecutors played a recording of the 911 call in which the jury heard a calm dispatcher gather information and give instructions, a panicked Kim Lewis beg EMS to hurry and the dying child gasp for air and call out for his mother.

Robert Lewis left a loaded, cocked handgun in reach of his young child who is now dead, said Chief Assistant District Attorney Mike Maultsby in his opening statement to jurors in Lewis' manslaughter trial.

“Tyler Lewis would be alive today if the defendant had followed the law,” Maultsby said. North Carolina General Statutes makes it illegal to leave a firearm in reach of a child.

Lewis' attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Ernie Wright said his client was a former Marine and civilian police officer who has lost his son, his wife, his career and his house.

“He did not know when he left for work that his son would be unsupervised,” Wright told the jury. He said Tyler's death was an unusual, unexpected and tragic accident.

A jury has been empanelled in the manslaughter retrial of a man whose toddler son died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2009.

Robert Lewis, 29, again faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, failure to secure a firearm from a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor related to the Nov. 16, 2009, death of 3-year-old Tyler Lewis.

The retrial jury is made up of six men and six women. A mistrial in the case was declared in March after an Onslow County jury couldn’t reach a decision.

N.C. Superior Court Judge Phyllis Gorham, of Wilmington, denied two motion's by Lewis' attorney Ernie Wright asking the court to limit evidence the jurors would hear in the case.

Wright claimed evidence obtained during a search of Lewis' Kanton Hills home by Onslow County Sheriff's Office detectives should not be heard because they coerced Lewis' wife into signing a consent form.

Robert Lewis is accused of leaving a Glock 22 .40-caliber pistol within reach of his son who shot himself in the head. Lewis, a former Marine and police officer, testified in his first trial that he thought he stored the handgun high enough on a 7-foot piece of furniture to be secure when he left for work.

Contact Daily News Senior Reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or lkay@freedomenc.com. Read his crime blog, "Off the Cuff," at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.