Man pleads guilty to gun crime, assault
Published 10:14 am Friday, March 11, 2016
A Wesson man pleaded guilty to charges of simple assault and shooting into a dwelling in a trial in Lincoln County Circuit Court presided over by Judge Michael Taylor on Thursday.
Lorenzo D. Eason, 31, of 1058 Beauregard Road, pleaded guilty on Thursday to a charge of simple assault and shooting into a dwelling. Eason was sentenced to 10 years with the time he has served suspended, and the remainder balance suspended for five years of post release supervision for the charge of shooting into a dwelling. He was given six months in county jail for the simple assault; both counts will run concurrently to each other.
Eason’s post release supervision is conditional upon remaining outside of the Brookhaven city limits and having no contact with the person, and her family, whom he assaulted.
Eason was indicted for the offenses of shooting into a dwelling an aggravated assault on June 1, 2015. The indictment states that on or about Aug. 24, 2014, Eason did attempt to cause bodily injury to Philece Sherri Lewis with a deadly weapon, a handgun, by shooting at Lewis.
Count two states that on or about Aug. 27, 2014, Eason discharged a firearm, a handgun, into the dwelling house of Lewis.
Eason entered a plea of not guilty when he waived arraignment on Aug. 3, 2015.
The defense filed a motion to exclude evidence for prior convictions and/or other bad acts. Evidence of these, however, was introduced. The jury was instructed that such evidence was not admissible to prove the character of the defendant in order to show that he acted in conformity with that character on Aug. 27, 2014. However, the instruction read, the evidence of other crimes and bad acts was admissible for the purpose of proving the defendant’s motive or intent toward Lewis.
Eason had been found guilty in 2013 of domestic violence and disorderly conduct. Allegations were made that Eason broke into the home of Lewis in March 2014, but no charges were filed. In May and July 2014, allegations were made that Eason was disturbing the peace at Lewis’s home and that he was harassing her, respectively, but no charges were filed in either case.
In August 2014, Eason was arrested by the Brookhaven Police Department for two counts of aggravated assault and was arrested with the same charges again in September 2014.