Incrimination of Carlton Lewis

On February 7, 1990, Cheryl Coleman was found dead in her apartment, sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a 2x4 piece of wood. Carlton Lewis became one the of few suspects in the case. Despite providing a statement that he was at his home at the time of the murder and the word of his wife, a suspect named William McKee was interviewed and said he saw Lewis go to a house on the corner of the street with Coleman. After McKee was interviewed, Lewis, who was illiterate at the time, was forced into a false confession by being taken into questioning at midnight, questioned without a lawyer present, and stayed until he finally signed a statement that he did not read nor write. The statement said that he was present while one of the suspects, Brown, had raped Coleman and stood by and watched as Brown murdered her. After McKee was interviewed a second time, he said both Brown and Lewis raped and murdered Coleman in exchange for a reduced sentence of twenty-five years to six years, and Lewis was later arrested for second-degree murder on February 20, 1990.