Gulfport couple each sentenced to 40 years in 2020 fatal shooting at Emerald Pines
A Gulfport were were each sentenced to 40 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Judge Christopher Schmidt handed down the sentence in Harrison County Circuit Court after last week’s guilty pleas.
29-year-old Aaron Mays had 10 years suspended on his sentence with 30 to serve and 5 years probation. 33-year-old Gitano Lewis had 15 years suspended with 25 to serve, followed by 5 years probation.
The guilty pleas stemmed from a May, 25, 2020, 911 call to Emerald Pines Apartments on 39th Avenue, where Gulfport Police found one victim with a gunshot to the arm and learned that a second victim had been taken to the hospital.
The second victim, Tremaine Brown, was shot in the back and died from his injuries. Witnesses identified Mays and Lewis as the shooters and the pair were arrested in D’Iberville the day after the shooting, with both suspects in possession of firearms.
Mays and Lewis provided police with recorded statements in which they admitted culpability for the shooting of both men. Lewis and Mays admitted to leaving their apartment in Emerald Pines, taking their children to a relative’s home, and returning to the complex armed with pistols to fight.
Lewis and Mays claimed that both victims had guns and that one of the victim fired first.
“However, forensic evidence would prove that all shell casings recovered from the crime scene were fired from Mays’ pistol. During her plea, Lewis admitted that she never saw either victim with a gun. Lewis also admitted that she tried to shoot her gun, but it did not fire,” said Assistant District Attorney Ian Baker, who prosecuted the case.
“We commend the Gulfport Police Department and the members of the community who came forward and provided information which resulted in these convictions. Their work and assistance helped bring closure in the criminal case, and justice to this family who lost a loved one” said District Attorney Crosby Parker.
