(Newark, DE 19702) On Friday, May 8, 2026, at approximately 11:45 p.m., officers from the New Castle County Division of Police responded to a residence in the unit block of Three Rivers Court for a report of CPR in progress.

Upon arrival, officers contacted 29-year-old David Lewis, who reported that he had left the residence and, upon returning home, found his mother, 60-year-old Valerra Lewis, inside a bedroom covered in blood. Officers entered the residence and located Valerra Lewis, who had sustained multiple stab wounds to her upper body and was pronounced deceased at the scene. Officers observed a blood-covered knife in the residence, along with a large amount of blood in various locations throughout the home, and recognized a strong odor of cleaning products throughout the home.

Detectives from the Division’s Criminal Investigations Unit and Evidence Detection Unit were contacted, responded to the scene, and assumed the investigation.

Through the course of the investigation, detectives determined that David Lewis stabbed his mother, Valerra Lewis, multiple times with a knife and later attempted to destroy physical evidence by cleaning various items within the residence. It is believed that this was done in an effort to destroy evidence connected to the incident.

David Lewis was subsequently taken into custody and transported to New Castle County Police Headquarters, where he was charged with the following offenses:

•            One felony count of Murder First Degree

•            One felony count of Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony

•            One felony count of Providing a False Statement to a Law Enforcement Officer

•            One felony count of Tampering with Physical Evidence

David Lewis was arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court 11 and committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in lieu of $1,055,178 cash bail.

David Lewis – 29