Christopher Haxel

Lansing State Journal

MASON — Just before Tava Jacobs was sentenced for murdering 25-year-old Terrance Lewis, Lewis' mother addressed his killer.

"I hope whatever time you have left on this earth will be filled with nothing but misery and pain," Kaleka Lewis-Harris said Wednesday afternoon at a sentencing in 30th Circuit Court.

Moments later, Judge William Collette ordered Jacobs to spend the rest of his life in prison.

The 41-year-old Lansing man was convicted last month of first-degree felony murder in the shooting death of Lewis last year in a public housing complex on the 3200 block of South Washington Avenue in Lansing.

Under Michigan law, first-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Officials have said the shooting happened inside an apartment on the building's fifth floor, although police found Lewis' body in a hallway.

Witnesses testified during Jacobs' preliminary hearing that on March 1, 2016, Lewis and several others were drinking, gambling and doing drugs in the apartment.

Jacobs and another man, both acquaintances of people at the gathering, arrived, and Lewis pointed a handgun at them before lowering it, according to testimony. A few minutes later, Jacobs pointed his own gun at Lewis and told him to take everything out of his pockets. Jacobs then shot Lewis several times, according to testimony.

Johnathan Stanfield, the 54-year-old resident of the apartment, was charged with tampering with evidence, accessory after the fact to a felony and removing a dead body without permission. After reaching a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to the second charge and was sentenced to probation and 86 days in jail — the time he'd already served after his arrest.

In addition to the murder charge, jurors in last month's trial were supposed to determine Jacobs' guilt on one charge of armed robbery and four weapons charges. They returned a verdict on the first count, but said they thought they didn't need to deliberate the other charges because they found Jacobs guilty of the murder charge.

With the acquiescence of prosecutors, Collette declared a mistrial on the five remaining charges. Since Jacobs was sentenced to life without parole, the mistrial will be a moot point unless the conviction is overturned on appeal.

Greg Hocking, Jacobs' attorney, had argued during the trial that the unidentified second man could have been the one who shot Lewis.

"Between my client and the eyewitness, the jury chose to believe the eyewitness," he said after Wednesday's hearing.

Contact Christopher Haxel at 517-377-1261 or chaxel@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHaxel.