Eric Lewis was due in court Monday in the case over the October 10 shooting that killed Sergeant Shane Seiber. The hearing was continued, and no new date has been set.
Eric Lewis, the man accused of killing Philadelphia Police Sergeant Shane Seiber and wounding his partner earlier this month, was due in court Monday. He did not get his hearing.
Lewis, 35, was scheduled to appear Monday, October 26, for a preliminary hearing in the state case against him. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office told Fox News the proceeding would be continued, and a new date has not yet been set. No reason for the delay was given.
A preliminary hearing is the step where a judge decides whether there is enough evidence to send a case to trial. A continuance moves that decision to a later date, and for now, Lewis remains held without bail, as he has been since his arraignment.
The case stems from just after midnight on Saturday, October 10, on the 100 block of North 52nd Street in West Philadelphia. Officers from the 19th District responded to a report of a man armed with a gun on a residential porch. Seiber, 40, a 10-year department veteran and Air Force veteran, was shot three times and died that morning at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. He was later posthumously promoted to Sergeant. His partner, Officer Hector Rodriguez III, 33, was shot 12 times and was released from the hospital on Saturday, October 24.
Lewis, a Philadelphia Water Department employee, was arrested after a standoff and arraigned Sunday, October 11, on 76 charges, according to court documents reported at the time. The charges include murder, homicide of a law enforcement officer, attempted murder, 10 counts of attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, and terroristic threats. He has not been convicted, and the charges remain allegations.
A separate federal case is also moving. A federal grand jury indicted Lewis on Thursday, October 22, on five counts, including discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, and theft of a firearm that had moved in interstate commerce. If convicted on the federal charges, he faces a maximum of life in prison and a minimum of 10 years. U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said at the time, “Under federal law, Eric Lewis is not allowed to possess a firearm. He is a convicted felon under federal law.”
Lewis was previously acquitted in a 2019 murder case, the history at the center of last week’s public dispute between District Attorney Larry Krasner and Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel.
For now, the state case waits. No new hearing date has been announced, and the next step in court is unknown. Philly Rhino will update this story when a date is set.
