Witness testifies about scene of accidental shooting

Updated at 4:47 p.m.

An Onslow County Sheriff's deputy testified to responding to Robert Lewis' home and hearing Lewis' wife, Kim, crying upstairs. 

When he went to an upstairs bedroom, the deputy found 3-year-old Tyler Lewis on the floor in a pool of blood with a hole in his forehead. The boy's mother was sitting on the floor holding Tyler's hand and comforting him, the deputy testified. 

Next to the boy was his father's Glock 22 .40-caliber handgun. 

The child, still breathing, was rushed by emergency medical workers to the hospital, the deputy testified. 

Defense attorney Ernie Wright asked the deputy to describe an entertainment center in the upstairs part of the home. 

In his opening statement, Wright said his client had stored the handgun on top of the entertainment center, which he believed to be well out of easy reach of the child.

Lewis purchased six firearms from a local gun shop where he was employed, including the Glock 22 .40-caliber pistol his son used to accidently kill himself.

Each gun came with a gun lock per federal law, according to testimony of the shop's owner.

During cross-exam, defense council pointed out that there was no law requiring the gun lock be used.

Robert Lewis will testify during his manslaughter trial, his attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Ernie Wright, told an Onslow County jury during his opening statement.

Wright said the death of his client's son was a tragic accident, not a crime. 

Jurors will hear two main things during Lewis' trial. That Lewis' 3-year-old son was dead and had his father followed the law and secured one of his handguns, the child would still be alive, prosecutors told jurors.

A jury of seven men and five women have been seated in the trial of Robert Lewis.

Two alternates will be selected and opening statements will be heard after court takes a lunch recess.

Jury selection continues in the manslaughter trial of a father accused of leaving a handgun in reach of his 3-year-old son who shot himself. 

Robert Lewis faces a count of involuntary manslaughter and other charges in the Nov. 16, 2009, death of Tyler Lewis. 

Prosecutor questions for possible jury members included whether they read and posted comments on local news media websites. 

Defense council questions for potential jurors centered their thoughts on the Second Amendment, whether they own firearms and whether they have past military experience. 

Among potential jurors dimissed by the defense was a police officer at Albert J. Ellis Airport.

Jury selection is set to begin today in the trial of a father charged with manslaughter for allegedly leaving a handgun within reach of his toddler, who accidentally shot and killed himself two years ago.

Robert John Lewis, 28, of Rutherford Way, faces charges by the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office of involuntary manslaughter, contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile and failing to secure a firearm from a minor in the Nov. 16, 2009, death of 3-year-old Tyler Lewis.

Robert Lewis was also charged with a count of possession of a weapon of mass death and destruction for allegedly having a homemade silencer among his other firearms found during a search after the child’s death.

Tyler Lewis died shortly after shooting himself in the forehead with a Glock model 22 .40-caliber pistol. He found the gun within reach inside his Kanton Hill subdivision home in the Southwest area. The boy’s mother, Kim Lewis, a former Marine, was home in another part of the house when the child began playing with the laser sight attached to the pistol and the gun went off, Sheriff’s investigators said.

Robert Lewis told The Daily News the day of the shooting that several claims by the Sheriff’s Office were untrue and the Glock was not left in easy reach of his son.

The boy’s death was ruled accidental by an Onslow County medical examiner.

The trial will be prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Mike Maultsby and ADA J.B. Askins.

Lewis is represented by Jacksonville lawyer Ernie Wright who told The Daily News he intends to “litigate the case to the fullest.”

Robert Lewis, a civilian police officer aboard New River Air Station at the time of his son’s death, has been on a $50,000 unsecured bond since his arrest. New River officials did not respond to requests for current information on Lewis’ employment status. However, a source not authorized to speak to the media said Lewis is no longer a civilian police officer.

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