Deceased/Not Found PA - James Lewis, 4, Lancaster, 28 July 1991

James Dupree Lewis Jr.

Endangered Missing from Lancaster, Pennsylvania since July 28, 1991

Age: 4 -- Height: 3'3" -- Weight: 60 lbs -- Hair Color: Brown -- Eye Color: Brown

James' nickname is Squirt.


James' mother, Debra A. Johnson, and her live-in boyfriend of one year, Maurice Marcell Martin, reported James missing at 8:30 am on July 28, 1991. Maurice stated that he left James in the car while he went into the Giant Food supermarket in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When he came out a few minutes later, James was gone. An extensive search turned up no sign of him.

Authorities eventually determined Maurice's story about James' disappearance was untrue. He was charged with criminal homicide in October 1991. Debra testified against Maurice at his trial, stating he severely abused James on a regular basis and he also abused her. (Two months after her son's disappearance, she left him and got an order of protection against him.) Neighbors also witnessed Maurice hit the boy. Maurice was convicted of 3rd degree murder in May 1992 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He will be released some time in 2012.


Charley Project

Doe Network

'Squirt' vanished; memories didn't
July 2011

It was 20 years ago when Lancaster city police first heard about the missing boy.

[snip]

For 71 days, investigators scoured over evidence and performed interviews for leads. Residents organized massive searches for the brown-eyed boy last seen shoe-less.

"He didn't walk onto a new life at age 4," said county President Judge Joseph Madenspacher, a prosecutor back then.

"Something happened to him."

What happened, police eventually learned, was that Martin had come into the boy's life about a year earlier. From that point, the child sustained beating after beating from the athletic 26-year-old Coatesville native.

On July 27, 1991, the child abuse turned into murder, police said.

[snip]

"The saddest part for the family was there was never an admission," he said, "and no chance for proper physical burial."

Chalfant said he still thinks about the child all the time.

"Whenever I see a missing-person report," the detective said.

Police will take calls at 735-3300 from people who have information about the Squirt Lewis case.

Such a tragic case. Hoping James can be found one day.

20 years was clearly not enough if the guy won't tell the family or authorities what he did with the body; assuming it can be recovered.

Missing Person Case

Print Report
Missing Persons Case Report

Missing Person / NamUs #MP11909
James Dupree Lewis,
Male, Black / African American
Status Missing
Date of Last Contact July 27, 1991
Missing From Lancaster City, Pennsylvania
Missing Age4 Years
Current Age32 Years

Case Information

Case Numbers
NCMEC Number 757142
Demographics
Missing Age 4 Years
Current Age 32 Years
First Name James
Middle Name Dupree
Last Name Lewis
Nickname/Alias Squirt

Sex Male
Height 3' 3" (39 Inches)
Weight 60 lbs
Race / Ethnicity Black / African American

Circumstances
Date of Last Contact July 27, 1991
NamUs Case Created August 8, 2011
Last Known Location
Location Lancaster City, Pennsylvania 17602
County Lancaster County

Circumstances of Disappearance James was last seen on July 28, 1991 in the company of an adult male.
Physical Description
Hair Color Black
Head Hair Description --
Body Hair Description --
Facial Hair Description --
Left Eye Color Brown
Right Eye Color Brown
Eye Description --
Distinctive Physical Features
No Known Information


Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Clothing
White muscle shirt with black trim, blue and yellow shorts, white tube socks

Footwear
no shoes

Additional Case Info

Transportation
No Information Entered
Images & Documents

Facial/case ID
August 8, 2011
--
Exclusions

Contacts
Investigating Agencies
Case Owner
Lancaster City Bureau of Police

Address 39 West Chestnut Street Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603
County Lancaster County
Main Phone (717) 735-3300
General Email --
Website URL Home

Agency Case Number--
Date Reported July 28, 1991
Jeffery Bell


Case Contributors
No Information Entered

• James Lewis, 4, Lancaster, missing since July 1991, believed dead

James was last seen on July 28, 1991. His mother’s boyfriend was convicted of third-degree murder in 1992, but a body hasn’t been found.

Missing persons: In Pennsylvania, how many are lost and from where?

Poor little guy


Johnson testified against Martin at his trial, stating he severely abused James on a regular basis, forcing him to stand in a corner for hours at a time and whipping him with various objects, and that he abused her as well. At one point, as a joke, he allegedly gave James a soda spiked with hot sauce.

Neighbors had also saw Martin harshly disciplining the boy, kicking him and striking him with a tree branch. Numerous witnesses testified that James appeared terrified of Martin. Martin also contacted James's preschool teacher and told her she should hit him if he misbehaved.

Martin had been investigated for possible child abuse earlier in 1991, and social workers made multiple unannounced visits to the household, but Johnson and Martin strenuously denied that there was any violence in the home and both James and his baby sister appeared healthy, properly dressed and well-fed with no visible injuries.

Child welfare authorities closed their file on the family two months before James disappeared.

Martin's attorney admitted his client had abused James but said that didn't mean he was responsible for the child's disappearance. Two witnesses who testified for the defense said they saw James alive after he was reported missing. Martin was convicted of third-degree murder in May 1992.

The jury decided he had unintentionally killed James while abusing him and invented the abduction story to cover up his crime. He served twenty years in prison and was released in 2012.

Most of James's family, including his mother, have moved away from the area. His body has never been found.