Allen Tayeh, the man accused of the gruesome murder of respected Lawrenceville attorney Douglas Lewis, will spend the remainder of his life incarcerated after a guilty plea.
A grand jury previously indicted Tayeh on several counts including murder, arson, and an attempt to conceal a body.
Tayeh was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, plus an additional consecutive five years, following his admission of guilt. The horrifying crime unfolded in December 2022, when Tayeh brutally ended Lewis’s life over a $30,000 debt he owed the attorney following his divorce.
Law enforcement agencies were alerted to a fire at Lewis’s law office on the evening of December 7, 2022. The fire inflicted severe burns on Lewis’s body.
However, the subsequent medical examination unveiled that Lewis had succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds to the head before the fire had been ignited, with one shot proving immediately fatal.
Tayeh was apprehended near the crime scene, showing signs of exposure to fire, including singed hair and eyebrows, and burn injuries on his face, hands, and legs. In his possession were a revolver and shell casings, with his vehicle located in the driveway next to Lewis’s. Further incriminating evidence was found when investigators saw Tayeh’s keys near Lewis’s body within the charred remains of the law office.
Lewis, a seasoned attorney specializing in divorce law, had been representing Tayeh’s ex-wife. As part of the divorce proceedings, Tayeh had been mandated to cover his ex-spouse’s attorney fees but had defaulted on this payment to Lewis.
Consequently, he had been summoned to court for a contempt hearing over these outstanding fees, scheduled a week after the fatal incident.