Ex-con accused of shooting officer in Fort Mill to be sentenced for robbery

An ex-con from Charlotte charged in connection with the ambush shooting of a Charlotte officer trying to arrest him in Fort Mill last year is scheduled to be sentenced for robbery Tuesday.

James William Lewis, 32, who has previous convictions for drug offenses, vehicle theft and other crimes, pleaded guilty last year to robbing a Pineville, N.C., Jack-In-The-Box, but has yet to be sentenced.

Lewis also faces charges in federal court in South Carolina in connection with the shooting of Shane Page, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer who was part of an apprehension team that tried to arrest Lewis at a Fort Mill home in January 2014. Lewis’ girlfriend, Kirstie Barratt, lied to Page and other officers about his being in her parents’ house, and police say Lewis shot Page as the officer searched the upper floor of the house.

Barratt was sentenced to two years in prison for lying to police and leading officers into what federal prosecutors and a federal judge have called “an ambush.”

Page, who was shot in the pelvis, abdomen and shoulder, has since retired from the police department.

Lewis’ lawyer in South Carolina claimed in court documents that Lewis might be insane, and that he was tested by federal mental health officials. But Lewis’ attorney on the North Carolina charges put on no such mental status defense last year when Lewis pleaded guilty to the robbery that led to his being a fugitive.

A court order signed by a federal judge in South Carolina last week placed Lewis’ federal case on hold until after Tuesday’s sentencing on the robbery charge in federal court in Charlotte.

This story was originally published July 13, 2015 at 11:58 AM with the headline "Ex-con accused of shooting officer in Fort Mill to be sentenced for robbery."