Kriti Mehrotra
When 24-year-old Alisha Canales-McGuire was found shot to death inside her sister’s residence on the 3100 block of York Road, it honestly baffled the entire area of Everett, Washington. That’s because, as explored in Netflix’s ‘Worst Ex Ever: Married to a Monster,’ their family wholeheartedly believed from the get-go that the latter’s ex-husband was responsible, only for it to turn out that he really was. Kevin Lewis had actually hired his cousin and his girlfriend to pull the trigger on his ex-wife following a bitter separation as well as a custody battle, but they ended up killing her sister instead.
Kevin Lewis Was Apparently Never a Doting Husband or Father
It was in 2007 when Kevin first came across Amanda Canales at a Denny’s while they were both there with friends, just for him to immediately sit beside her and make an introduction. He tried his best to impress her, yet she didn’t pay him much heed until they unexpectedly bumped into each other again a week later, all the way in Spokane, Washington. He again flirted, and this time, she was impressed by the efforts he was putting in to make it clear he was interested in having a serious relationship with her, driving them to actually begin dating soon after.
Amanda and Kevin actually ended up tying the knot in the summer of 2009, following which her family made it clear he now belonged with them too – they welcomed him with open arms and open hearts. This was a big deal considering the veteran and trained boxer’s own father had apparently rejected him at birth, per the show, resulting in him having some abandonment and emotional issues. But alas, no one could have ever expected that the man who promised to be someone his wife could always rely on would be unaffectionate as a husband, disinterested in the adventures of their three kids’ daily lives, as well as wholly abusive.
Kevin Lewis’ Emotional Abuse Gradually Evolved into Physical Abuse
As per Amanda’s account, she told her husband she wished to separate in February 2016, following years of living under his shadow and having him control what she wore, what she did, and who she spoke to. She was surprised when she saw he had an emotional reaction to her decision, yet she still moved into the office space they had, unaware he would still try to check her phone before punching her square in the face for her refusal. She didn’t report this incident to the police but moved out with the kids. Her decision resulted in Kevin often insistently calling her and giving her death threats.
Amanda said that he even promised he would take the kids away from her for good one day. That’s when she filed for a restraining order, which included all three of their children, and essentially granted her full custody, only for him to jump her in her car just outside her new place one night. So, she reported both assaults with cell phone pictures she had taken as proof, yet there were questions as to whether Kevin was responsible for the latter or not because she never really got a good look at her perpetrator owing to the blood in her eyes.
The fact Kevin had threatened Amanda, their kids, and her family purportedly could not do much in such a case, but then her sister Alisha was killed in her house while looking after their three children on September 20, 2017. However, again, owing to there being no concrete evidence against the ex-brother-in-law at this point, he walked free while the investigations into both these legal criminal cases continued.
Kevin Lewis is Serving a Life Term in a State Prison
It was only in April 2019 that arrests were finally made in Alisa’s murder, with Kevin Lewis, Jerradon Phelps, and Alexis Hale finding themselves facing the charge of aggravated first-degree murder with a firearm and criminal conspiracy to commit murder. However, it’s imperative to note that by this point, Kevin was already incarcerated after having been found guilty for both the second-degree assaults on his ex-wife – he was sentenced to 39 months. As for Alisa’s murder, while both Jerradon and Alexis pleaded guilty, the mastermind behind it all decided to go to trial.
In court, it came to light that Kevin paid his cousin Jerradon $2400 to kill his wife, Amanda, out of which $200 was given to Alexis. However, his plan backfired when the two mistakenly killed Alisha. Kevin’s sole defense at the time was that the two youngsters had acted on their own accord, taking his venting about his troubles as an offer to kill, but the money trace was undeniable. In the end, Kevin was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, as well as solicitation to commit murder, for which he was sentenced to live in prison without the possibility of parole.
He has since tried to appeal the verdict, but even the Supreme Court of Washington denied his motions on May 8, 2024 – with their denial, he lost his final appeal motion. Therefore, today, at the age of 37, Kevin is incarcerated at the mixed-security Washington State Penitentiary – MSC in Walla Walla, Washington, where he is expected to remain for the rest of his natural life.
Read More: Jerradon Phelps and Alexis Hale: Where Are the Killers Now?
