The Denver Channel
October 4, 2015
Dexter Lewis, the killer convicted of stabbing 5 people to death in Fero’s Bar during 2012, was sentenced to five life sentences plus another 180 years on Wednesday.
Lewis was convicted on Aug. 10 of five counts of first degree murder after deliberation, five counts of felony murder, five county of attempted robbery and an arson charge. However, the jury decided that aggravating factors, including an abusive childhood, were significant enough that he should not face the death penalty.
Because Lewis was found guilty in a death penalty case, Colorado law dictated that Lewis be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the counts of murder. The judge sentenced him to five life sentences, to be served consecutively, for the murders. The judge gave Lewis an additional 180 years on the other charges. That was the maximum sentenced allowed.
Prosecutors said several people who served on the jury attended the sentencing hearing to show their support for the family and friends of the victims.
This was the second case of the summer where a jury was unable or unwilling to reach the required unanimous decision that would sentence a killer to die. The other case was the Aurora movie theater shooting.