AVEION MALIK LEWIS - 2 yo (2010) - Roanoke VA

A memorial service for Aveion Malik Lewis was cancelled Saturday and
was not immediately rescheduled because the medical examiner's office
has not released the boy's body, his father said. "We're trying to make sure that we give him a respectful and
proper burial," said Aveion's father, James Lewis. "We want to make
sure that everyone from both families can come."
The medical examiner's office announced last week that the body
found Jan. 27 in Roanoke County's Smith Gap Regional Landfill was that
of 2-year-old Aveion. Also this week, the Roanoke Police Department
said they were combing through an e-mail account linked to Aveion's
stepfather to confirm who may have been involved in the toddler's
death.
Authorities have not announced a cause of death. The investigation
began Jan. 14, when the stepfather, Brandon Lockett, reported Aveion
had been abducted. Police have said that Lockett has given varying
accounts of what may have happened to the toddler. Lockett, 24, has
been charged with felony child neglect, improper disposal of a body and
obstruction of justice.
Lewis said he did not know when Aveion's body would be released. He
said Saturday's memorial service was cancelled because of inclement
weather and that he would later announce a new date.

A memorial service for a Roanoke toddler has been rescheduled.


The family of Aveion Lewis says the service to celebrate the
toddler's life will be held on Saturday, March 13 at the St. Matthew
Word of Life church.
Bad weather forced them to cancel multiple other weekends.
Aveion's aunt informed, the medical examiner turned the body over
to the family more than a week ago and they will bury him in a private
service.
The two-year-old was reported missing in mid-January, days later his
step-father, Brandon Lockett, admitted he had a hand in the child's
death.
Lockett could face more charges when the Roanoke Grand Jury meets on Monday.

The mother and stepfather of slain toddler
Aveion Lewis were indicted today on charges of murder and child abuse, according
to court records.

Brandon Lockett, 24, and Morgan Lockett, 23, also were charged in the grand jury's
indictment with child neglect and cruelty in the death of Aveion, 2. The child's
bound body
was found wrapped in a bag in
Smith Gap Landfill in western Roanoke County nearly two weeks after the
couple reported the boy missing on Jan. 14.

The indictment is the first
public charge that Morgan Lockett,
Aveion's mother, was involved in the child's
death. She surrendered to Roanoke police this afternoon,
after the grand jury handed up the indictment.

Police launched an intense search for the child after the
abduction report and, after they said Brandon Lockett's shifting stories led
them to believe Aveion was dead, declared the abduction story a hoax. Brandon
Lockett was charged earlier with felony child neglect, improper disposal of a
body and obstruction of justice. He is being held at the Roanoke City Jail.

In back-to-back court hearings, Aveion Lewis' mother and stepfather
wept, shook their heads and complained about accusations that they
murdered their 2-year-old son.
"How was I indicted when I wasn't even charged?" Brandon R'eal
Lockett Sr. protested during Tuesday's hearing, referring to
indictments that a Roanoke grand jury returned a day earlier and to
lesser charges filed against him in January in connection with the
toddler's death.
Lockett, 24, and his wife, Morgan Elizabeth Ward Lockett, 23, were
arraigned Tuesday in Roanoke Circuit Court on the new charges. Both are
accused of second-degree murder, child neglect and cruelty.
Charges of improper disposal of a body, child neglect and
obstructing justice filed last month against Brandon Lockett were
dropped earlier Tuesday in the city's Juvenile and Domestic Relations
Court.
In Circuit Court, Brandon Lockett raised a cuffed hand to be sworn
in, then told Judge Clifford Weckstein that he had no money or
resources. Weckstein appointed Roanoke lawyer Tom Blaylock to defend
Lockett.
Morgan Lockett's hearing followed her husband's. Uncuffed and
visibly pregnant, she sat crying and shaking her head as Weckstein read
the charges against her.
She declined to let the judge appoint a lawyer for her, saying her
family was trying to raise money for a private attorney. Weckstein said
she had a week to find her own attorney or he would appoint one.
Both Locketts were returned to the Roanoke City Jail. Weckstein said he would hold bond hearings if their attorneys requested.
The Locketts reported Aveion missing from the family's Southeast
Roanoke home on Jan. 14. They said intruders had knocked out Brandon
Lockett, bound and gagged Morgan Lockett's 4-year-old daughter, and
left a note demanding $10,000.
Morgan Lockett said she had been at her job as an assistant at Hurt Park Elementary School while this happened.
Five days later, after widespread searching by police and FBI
agents, Brandon Lockett told officers that Aveion was dead. On Jan. 27,
the day after what would have been Aveion's third birthday, his body
was found in a landfill in Western Roanoke County.
Aveion had been in foster care for more than a third of his life.
At age 14 months, Roanoke Social Services removed him from his
mother's custody after a report that he was neglected. He'd had medical
problems since birth that made it hard for him to eat, and when he was
put in foster care he weighed less than 9 pounds, according to court
records.
He doubled his weight before he was returned to the Locketts' home in September.
Investigators have said that not long before he died, Aveion's legs
were burned by a heater. He received no medical care for the burns, the
investigators said.

Morgan Elizabeth Ward Lockett will have three attorneys to defend her
against charges she murdered her 2-year-old son, Aveion Lewis, Roanoke
Circuit Court Judge Clifford Weckstein said today.

In a hearing
that lasted only minutes, Weckstein appointed Roanoke lawyer Art
Strickland and two members of his firm, Tommy Strelka and Correy
Diviney, to represent Lockett. A bond hearing to determine if the
23-year-old Roanoke woman will remain in jail until her trial was
scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday.

Lockett and her husband, Brandon
R’eal Lockett, each are charged with second-degree murder, cruelty and
child neglect in the death of Aveion, who they reported missing Jan.
14. The boy's body was discovered in a Roanoke County landfill on Jan.
27.

Brandon Lockett, Aveion’s stepfather, initially told police that intruders knocked him out and kidnapped the toddler.

The
Department of Social Services had taken Aveion from the Lockett’s
custody when he was 14 months old after a report that he’d been
neglected. He was returned to the Locketts in September after about 16
months in foster care.

A trial date for the Locketts has not been set.

Aveion Lewis' mother, Morgan Elizabeth Ward Lockett, will remain jailed
without bond as she awaits trial on charges she and her husband
murdered the 2-year-old, a Roanoke Circuit Court judge ruled today.

Judge
Clifford Weckstein denied the request for bond at a hearing today,
citing the serious nature of the charges and three other children in
the Lockett home. The other children are aged 4, almost 2 and almost 1.
Lockett, 23, also is expecting another child in May.

Lockett and
her husband, Brandon R'eal Lockett, each are charged with second-degree
murder, cruelty and child neglect in the death of Aveion, whom they
reported missing Jan. 14. Aveion's body was discovered in a Roanoke
County landfill on Jan. 27.

Brandon Lockett, 24, initially told
police that intruders knocked him out and kidnapped the toddler. Later,
he told police Aveion was dead.

The Department of Social
Services removed Aveion from the Locketts' custody when he was 14
months old, after a report that he had been neglected. He was returned
to the Locketts in September after spending about 16 months in foster
care.

Brandon and Morgan Lockett are back in court

The trial of a Roanoke man accused of killing his young step-son has been continued, but Brandon Lockett was in court Wednesday afternoon.

It was last January, Lockett was charged in the death of two-year-old Aveion Lewis.
Looking considerably slimmer - he was on hand as the judge heard motions on his case including a change of venue request.
That requested was deferred to a later date, but the testimony of a possible medical expert was put to the test.
During the testimony of Pediatric Emergency Medicine Dr. Robin Foster - we learned more about the toddler's badly decomposed body.
Foster said because of that decomposition she would have a hard time determining the exact cause of the baby's death.
"It is certainly possible with the severity of malnutrition that was evident, that it could be the cause of death. But, with the absence of the brain, I don't think you can say to a degree of medical certainty that's absolutely what the primary cause of death was," testified Dr. Robin Foster of VCU Pediatric Emergency Medicine.Dr. Foster also testified Aveion's body had several injuries on it, including old burns, bruises and a broken arm that looked like it had occurred shortly before his death.
Brandon Lockett's case is currently set to start in September.
Meanwhile, Aveion's mother, Morgan Lockett was also in court Wednesday.
She's also charged is her son's death.
Her attorneys asked that her case be continued from the current date of April 22nd.
The judge denied that request.



http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-locketts-20110209,0,2674006.story

Year later, cause of Aveion Lewis' death unclear


A defense attorney failed to block expert testimony, centered on neglect and abuse, in the coming trial.


Aveion Lewis, the 2-year-old boy found dead last year in a landfill, clearly had been neglected and abused, Roanoke prosecutors say.
The cause of his death, however, is not so clear.
At a hearing Wednesday in Roanoke Circuit Court, prosecutors conceded they don't have medical proof of exactly what kind of injury killed the boy. But they don't need that to press murder charges against his stepfather, Brandon Lockett, and his mother, Morgan Lockett, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Sandra Workman said.
"The cause of death ultimately is for the jury to decide," Workman said. "We don't intend to invade the province of the jury by saying that Aveion died of X."
Part of the uncertainty is caused by the fact that half of the toddler's head was missing when his decomposing body was found Jan. 27, 2010, in the Roanoke County landfill, two weeks after he was reported missing from his Southeast Roanoke home.
Forensic details about the case emerged Wednesday after Brandon Lockett's attorney, assistant public defender Rachel Jackson, asked Judge Clifford Weckstein to limit or prohibit the testimony of Dr. Robin Foster, an expert witness for the commonwealth.
In a review of what her trial testimony would be, Foster talked about possible contributing factors, such as neglect and malnutrition, but could not cite an exact cause of death.
"In this particular case, we don't have a factual determination that can be made, within reasonable medical certainty, as to what the physical cause of death was," Jackson said.
After several hours of testimony and arguments, Weckstein denied the defense motion to bar Foster's testimony -- at least at this point.
"I cannot, in advance of trial, tell you what testimony will and will not be admissible," Weckstein said. But he also warned that there could be limits to what Foster is allowed to tell the jury.
"The doctor has today had free rein to testify implicitly, as she might in a civil case, basing her testimony upon things that experts in her field might rely on," Weckstein said in explaining his ruling. "She will not have that latitude, of course, at trial."
When the cases get under way -- Morgan Lockett's trial is scheduled for April; Brandon Lockett's for September -- prosecutors are expected to present more details about Aveion's injuries, which included a broken arm, and his weight loss, allegedly caused by neglect and malnutrition.
Both parents knew about Aveion's mistreatment, prosecutors contend.
The Locketts, who are jailed awaiting their trials, are both charged with first-degree murder, child neglect and cruelty.
On Jan. 14, Brandon Lockett told police that three assailants kidnapped Aveion after barging into their home. Lockett said he was beaten, and Morgan Lockett's 4-year-old girl was tied up and gagged before the kidnappers left a note demanding a ransom of $10,000.
Five days later, Lockett admitted the story was a hoax.
On Jan. 26, what would have been Aveion's third birthday, search teams began to rake through the compacted trash at Smith Gap Regional Landfill in West Roanoke County. They found the boy's body the next day, bound and wrapped in plastic.
Morgan Lockett also appeared in court briefly Wednesday. Her attorneys requested a delay of her April trial so they could explore the possibility of obtaining a psychiatric expert to testify on her behalf.
Weckstein denied the motion, noting that there have already been delays in a case that is nearly a year old.
A defendant's constitutional rights, he said, prohibit both "a rush to judgment and a plod to judgment."

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/276544

Murder trial delayed for mother of slain toddler Aveion Lewis




By Mike Gangloff
Morgan Lockett, the mother of
slain Roanoke toddler Aveion Lewis, won't stand trial on a murder charge
until October, a month after her husband is scheduled to be tried.

Roanoke Circuit Court Judge Clifford Weckstein agreed to delay the
trial, which had been scheduled to begin next week, after a closed-door
session with prosecution and defense attorneys today.

The delay gives both sides time to go through an estimated 12,000 pages
of evidence that investigators have accumulated about the death of
Aveion, 2, whose emaciated body was found in a Roanoke County landfill
in January 2010.

"There was so much to cover," said defense attorney Art Strickland of
Roanoke, one of three lawyers representing Morgan Lockett, after the
hearing.

Morgan Lockett and her husband, Brandon Lockett, are jailed on charges
of first-degree murder, child neglect and cruelty. Brandon Lockett
initially reported that Aveion was kidnapped, then after almost a week
of searching, told officers that the boy had died before police were
called. After another week, searchers found Aveion's body.

Defense attorneys have tried repeatedly to delay Morgan Lockett's trial,
which had been scheduled to start Monday. Weckstein rejected earlier
requests, but agreed today after the prosecution did not object,
Strickland said.

Commonwealth's Attorney Don Caldwell and Assistant Commonwealth's
Attorney Sandra Workman said after the closed-door session that the
postponement was jointly requested by the prosecution and defense.

Strickland said the delay will give a defense medical expert more time
to review findings about Aveion's life and death. Specifically, the
expert will take a further look at the "date of injuries" that
prosecutors and police have said Aveion suffered. When his body was
found, he had burns on his legs and a broken arm, all apparently
sustained in the weeks before his death and left untreated.

Brandon Lockett has said that what prosecutors are calling a burn was
actually a rash that he and Morgan had tried to treat. He said the
parents knew nothing about a broken arm.

Aveion had a very low weight during much of his life, and at 14 months
old was placed with foster parents by the Department of Social Services.
Under the foster parents care, he regained a normal weight, then lost
much of it after being returned to the Locketts in March 2009,
prosecutors have said.

Correy Diviney, who works with Strickland and also represents Morgan
Lockett, said after the hearing that "the degree of malnourishment" is
another area the defense's medical expert is reviewing.

Brandon Lockett's trial is scheduled to start Sept. 6. Morgan Lockett's new trial date is Oct. 11.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/282473

New witness at Aveion Lewis crime scene, police warrant reveals


Monday, May 02, 2011
A search warrant filed in Roanoke Circuit Court today names a witness in the investigation of toddler Aveion Lewis' death last year.

Public mention of an additional adult present on the day Aveion disappeared is a new angle in a case that has so far revolved around the neglect and abuse Aveion allegedly received from his stepfather, Brandon Lockett, 25, and mother, Morgan Lockett, 24.

The Locketts are charged with first-degree murder, child neglect and cruelty. Brandon Lockett is scheduled for trial in September, Morgan Lockett in October.

According to the warrant, Dorniki Renee Turner, 33, called police on Jan. 18, 2010. That was four days after 2-year-old Aveion's stepfather reported that he had been kidnapped. The call also followed a frantic search for the missing boy. On Jan. 19, Brandon Lockett told police that Aveion was not kidnapped and was dead, according to police.

Police interviewed Turner on Jan. 18, 2010, then again on Jan. 29, two days after Aveion's body was found in a Roanoke County landfill, the warrant said. She was interviewed a third time in November, the warrant said.

"Dorniki Turner has confirmed she was in the location of the crime on and or around the time of the incident," the warrant said.

Turner is not charged in the case.

Turner, known as "D," told police about "certain and specific places to search and what evidence to look for," the warrant said. She knew details of the case that were not public knowledge, the warrant said. A witness, referred to in the warrant as V1 due to the person's age, said someone called "D" was involved in the events of Jan. 14, 2010, the warrant said.

The warrant seeks to allow investigators to collect DNA samples from Turner.

Conditions in the Lockett household, where there were four other children besides Aveion, all younger than 4, have emerged piecemeal in court hearings and search warrants. Investigators have said that in the days and weeks before Aveion died, he suffered a broken arm and burns to his legs that were left untreated.

Prosecutors and police have pointed to the boy's very low weight as a sign of poor treatment. He weighed 9 pounds when he was 14 months old, and the Department of Social Services placed him with foster parents. Cared for by the foster parents, Aveion's weight rose to a normal 30 pounds. He shed much of that after returning to the Locketts' home on March 31, 2009, prosecutors said.

In a jail interview earlier this year, Brandon Lockett maintained his and his wife's innocence and said his stepson's low weight was tied to a health condition.

Morgan Lockett's attorneys have said at hearings that she was so dominated by an abusive husband that she was not capable of independently forming the intent to kill required for a first-degree murder conviction.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/285234

Aveion Lewis's blood found on pillow, towel, bedroom floor



Published: May 05, 2011
10 On Your Side uncovered new details in the Aveion Lewis murder investigation.

DNA lab test results reveal a forensic analyst matched the boy's DNA to blood found on a pillow, a towel, a white T-shirt, and on a bedroom floor.
Investigators believe the two-year-old died in early January 2010.
Police found his body on January 28th, 2010 wrapped in a plastic bag in a landfill.
The bag was bound with duct tape.

The boy's step father, Brandon Lockett, and his mother, Morgan Lockett, are charged with his murder.

The DNA lab test results, on file in Roanoke Circuit Court, claim the forensic analyst also matched Aveion's DNA to a knot on a plastic bag and to three locations in the "handle" area of a Sam's Club bag.
The items tested appear to have come from the landfill where the boy was found, a dumpster near the Locketts' home, and inside the Locketts' townhouse at Jamestown Place in Roanoke.

There is no mention in the files of either Morgan or Brandon Lockett of any results from evidence testing matching their DNA.
Brandon Lockett's trial is scheduled to begin in mid-September.
Morgan Lockett's trial is right now set for October.
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2011/may/05/aveion-lewiss-blood-found-pillow-towel-bedroom-flo-ar-1019862/

Brandon Lockett pleads no contest in Aveion Lewis case
Lockett pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and felony child neglect charges
2:41 p.m. EDT, August 30, 2011

ROANOKE, Va.—
Brandon Lockett pleaded no contest Tuesday afternoon in connection with the murder of Aveion Lewis.

Lockett pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and felony child neglect charges. Prosecutors agreed to drop the first-degree murder and child endangerment charges.
Brandon Lockett will be sentenced in November

-----
http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-brandon-lockett-expected-to-enter-plea-in-aveion-lewis-case-20110830,0,6405805.story

Lockett guilty in brutal abuse, murder of toddler Aveion Lewis
Evidence showed the 2-year-old had lost a quarter of his body weight and had suffered an untreated broken arm in the last month of his life.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Brandon R'eal Lockett Sr. has been found guilty of second-degree murder and child abuse and neglect in Roanoke Circuit Court after pleading no contest to the charges this afternoon.

Lockett faces a up to 50 years in prison when he is sentenced in November in the January 2010 death of his stepson, toddler Aveion Lewis -- 40 years is the maximum penalty on the murder charge, 10 years for the abuse and neglect.

He had been charged with first-degree murder, but prosecutors dismissed the charge as part of a plea agreement.

Judge Clifford Weckstein pronounced Lockett guilty after hearing more than an hour's worth of prosecution evidence from Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Sandra Workman.

Among the details Workman listed for the court:

-- An examination Aveion Lewis' body showed he had "no fat whatsoever," no food in his body and weighed less than 20 pounds, a significant decrease from his previous examination weight of 28 pounds. "Such a weight loss was sufficient to cause death," Workman told the court.

-- Further examination of Aveion's body revealed a broken arm that occurred sometime during the last month of his life but went untreated. His remains also showed untreated second-degree burns on his legs; bruises that appeared to have come from being grabbed; a circular burn on his hand; and cuts that should've been treated with stitches but weren't.

-- Workman said the father of a babysitter who worked for the Locketts before Aveion's death was called to their house by his daughter because she was concerned with the boy's condition. The father told investigators the untreated second-degree burns on the back of Aveion's legs looked "like Freddy Krueger." Workman said Aveion slept on an uncovered mattress that was soaked with urine.

-- Investigators discovered a "practice ransom note" under the sofa at the Lockett residence.

Lockett will be sentenced Nov. 29, following a pre-sentencing report and a victim impact statement. He was scheduled to go on trial next week for murder, child abuse and neglect. Workman said Lockett had made the decision to plead earlier today, but declined to discuss the case prior to sentencing.

Lockett has been behind bars for more than a year, since January 2010, when he told investigators his stepson had been abducted by home invaders. A desperate, highly publicized hunt for Aveion began and lasted for nearly two weeks. Aveion's body eventually was found wrapped in plastic and tape in the Smith Gap Regional Landfill in Roanoke County.

Aveion's mother, Morgan Lockett, also has been charged with murder, abuse and neglect in the case and has a trial scheduled for October.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/297440

Barring any last minute changes, Morgan Lockett's murder trial will begin tomorrow morning.
Lockett is charged with first degree murder and felony child abuse in the death of her young son, Aveion Lewis.
Morgan Lockett's husband, and the boy's step father, Brandon Lockett, reported him missing in January 2010.
Investigators later found his body in a landfill.
Brandon Lockett pleaded no contest to his role in the murder back on August 30th.
He'll be sentenced later this year.
Morgan Lockett's trial is expected to last at least two weeks.
It will be a jury trial.
The judge in the case decided to call a larger jury pool than normal.
The judge anticipates the case's extensive media coverage to make it more difficult to seat the 12 member jury panel along with two alternates.
The trial is set to begin at 9:30 a.m.
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2011/oct/10/morgan-lockett-trial-begin-tuesday-morning-ar-1373727/

Morgan Lockett trial: Jury seated, opening statements begin

By: SCOTT LEAMON
Published: October 11, 2011

Jurors in the Morgan Lockett murder trial listened to opening statements Tuesday afternoon, then the case adjourned until Wednesday morning.

Lockett is on trial for several alleged crimes involving the death of her two-year-old son, Aveion Lewis, including first degree murder.

In its opening statement, prosecutors outlined how they plan to prove their case, that Lockett was an unfit mother who intentionally starved her son to death.

Lockett's defense team countered in its opening remarks by claiming investigators still don't know exactly what killed little Aveion Lewis.

It became clear Morgan Lockett's defense team plans to put her husband, and the boy's step father, Brandon Lockett, on trial.

Brandon Lockett pleaded no contest to his role in the alleged murder on August 30th.

He'll be sentenced later this year.

Morgan Lockett's defense attorneys told jurors that her husband abused and manipulated her into failing to properly care for Aveion Lewis.

Defense attorneys also claimed it was Brandon Lockett who came up with the phony Aveion kidnapping story that made so many headlines in mid-January 2010.

The trial resumes at 9:30 a.m.

http://www2.wsls.com/news/2011/oct/11/morgan-lockett-trial-jury-seated-opening-statement-ar-1376410/