Lewiston teen found guilty of murder

LEWISTON — A jury voted Thursday to convict Demetri Ewing of first-degree murder charges after a nine-day trial.

The 12-member jury, consisting of seven women and five men, deliberated for 3½ hours and found Ewing guilty.

The 17-year-old Ewing was charged with first-degree murder after the shooting death of Samuel Johns on Jan. 8, 2021. Ewing’s father, Clyde Ewing, also faces a first-degree murder charge, and his trial is expected to start May 16.

There were about 40 people in the audience during closing statements and 50 when the jury’s verdict was announced.

Second District Judge Jay Gaskill scheduled a presentencing investigation for June 9 and sentencing for June 16. Ewing was charged as an adult even though he was 16 at the time of the murder and could face up to life in prison.

Ewing stood up as court clerk Teresa Dammon read the verdict out loud, and he didn’t show any expression on his face. Johns’ friends and family cried and comforted each other after the verdict was read. A couple of people in the courtroom who came to support Ewing cried when he was handcuffed and led away.

“I am happy with the verdict and proud my office could get justice for Mr. Johns’ (family) but this is just one defendant of two,” Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman said in a written statement. “My office is already focusing on the next trial and will hold Clyde Ewing responsible for his part in the murder of Mr. Johns. I would like to thank my Chief Deputy Prosecutor April Smith and the rest of my staff for their tireless work on this trial.”

Closing arguments were also presented to the jury Thursday morning. Coleman outlined the case against Ewing. He described that on the night of the shooting, the Ewings had a plan to rob or burglarize the Johns home. Coleman said Demetri Ewing went to the home to “settle a score and he left there a killer.”

In his 30-minute address to the jury, Coleman followed the murder from the beginning to the eventual arrest of the Ewings, starting in December 2020, with the search for a missing army bag that belonged to Clyde Ewing’s late father. Coleman said surveillance video from Walmart showed the Ewings purchasing items that included zip ties and black sweatshirts. During that time, a photo of a gun among other items at the Hacienda Lodge where the Ewings were staying was found on both Ewings’ phones.

Coleman showed the route taken from the Hacienda Lodge to the Johns house on the night of the shooting, played video surveillance, and showed the locations of areas where evidence was found along the path taken. A photo of Clyde and Demetri Ewing from Walmart surveillance video was shown as the 911 call made by Patricia Labombard was again played for the jury. Coleman then traced the route back to the Hacienda Lodge and noted other evidence that was left behind on the ride back, as well as items found during a search warrant.

He also explained the charge of first-degree murder to the jury, stating that the prosecution doesn’t have to prove the intent to murder or who did the actual shooting. The prosecution only has to prove that in this case, two people planned to commit a robbery or burglary, or another felony, and in the process also committed murder. In this case, the burglary included aggravated assault with a gun and kidnapping by using zip tie restraints, both of which are felonies.

“It means it doesn’t matter who pulled the trigger,” Coleman said. “Demetri Ewing is guilty of first-degree murder.”

Even though the prosecution doesn’t have to prove who did the shooting, Coleman suggested that the amount of gunshot residue on Ewing as well as audio after leaving the Johns residence saying, “I shot him, Dad” pointed to Ewing as the shooter.

“Mr. Ewing did this,” Coleman said. “Now I’m asking you to hold him accountable and find him guilty of first-degree murder.”

In his closing arguments, defense attorney Lawrence Moran said the prosecution left behind broken promises in its burden of proof to the jury.

He stated that in the testimony from Labombard, she was insistent that the two assailants were a man and a woman. In police interviews after the shooting, she said it was a female voice and a woman about 5-foot-8 with an hourglass shape. Ewing was 5-foot-2 when he was booked at the Juvenile Detention Center. Moran said afterward she changed her testimony to fit the description of Clyde and Demetri Ewing.

“Demetri is not 5-foot-8, ladies and gentlemen,” Moran said. “He’s not a woman with an hourglass figure.”

Moran also refuted the claim by prosecution of a robbery or burglary to find an army bag that Clyde Ewing was “obsessed with.” “Demetri Ewing wasn’t angry about a bag,” he said. “Demetri Ewing was a 16-year-old kid who couldn’t care less about an army bag.”

Although he said that the prosecution didn’t need to prove who fired the gun, Moran said the state does need to prove that it was either Clyde or Demetri Ewing.

Moran asked the jury to look closely at the surveillance videos provided by the prosecution of the travel to the Johns home. He described the individuals in the video as “ghostly figures” and asked the jury if they recognized Ewing in the video. He also questioned the decision by law enforcement to not look past the Hacienda Lodge for video evidence and the “dark colored clothing” description given of the assailants. Moran noted that in the video the figures aren’t wearing dark clothes from head to toe and asked the jury to look at the shoes. He also brought up the audio file mentioned by Coleman and suggested that the person talking may have said “Shot him dead.”

Moran reminded the jury of the defense’s expert witnesses who questioned the findings of the prosecution. He said that the DNA found on evidence did not match Demetri Ewing and the Idaho State Police Forensic Lab only found a match based on assumptions placed into the analysis software. He reiterated points made in cross-examination of Tara Martinez, a forensic analyst of latent prints for ISP, that she changed her initial report and she had not completed her certification when stating a fingerprint matched Ewing.

After Moran’s hour-long closing statement, he told the jury to make their decision on reasonable doubt. “If you conclude ‘yeah he probably did it,’ you must acquit,” he said. “ ‘Probably’ isn’t ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ”

Before closing arguments, Gaskill gave the jury instructions in reaching the verdict, including rendering its decision to the law that applies and that jurors could use exhibits and notes from the trial in the deliberation. By the third day of the trial, a majority of the jury was taking notes. Gaskill told the jurors there had to be a unanimous decision in finding Ewing guilty or not guilty.

During the nine-day trial, the prosecution offered numerous items of evidence, including shell casings, zip ties, a Walmart bag, and electrical tape and duct tape, all found at the crime scene, and connected it to the Ewings’ motel room at the Hacienda Lodge.

The prosecution also presented video surveillance from Walmart they argued showed the Ewings purchasing the items as well as video surveillance to and from the murder scene, starting at the Ewings motel room at the Hacienda Lodge in Clarkston.

The prosecution also had expert witness testimony from forensic scientists on DNA, gunshot residue, firearms and fingerprints that pointed to Demetri Ewing. There was also testimony from witnesses at the scene and law enforcement who investigated the case.

Prosecution made its case that a dispute over a green army bag that belonged to Clyde Ewing, which he believed was at the Johns’ home, was the reason for the murder.

The defense cross-examined witnesses to offer a rebuttal to statements. It also questioned police procedures in the handling of witnesses, collection of evidence and the direction of the investigation, which connected the Ewings to the crime early on. Defense attorneys also discussed items of evidence that did not match Ewing, including the height of the shooter and DNA analysis from the defense’s expert. It suggested that a third person, not Demetri Ewing, was with Clyde Ewing at the murder scene.

However, the jury ultimately concluded that one the night of the shooting Jan. 8, 2021, Demetri Ewing, allegedly with Clyde Ewing, rode bicycles while wearing all black clothing from the Hacienda Lodge to the Johns residence at 1706 Seventh Ave., in Lewiston, in an attempt to retrieve a green army bag. They then entered the home, zip tied Patricia Labombard, found Johns and shot him twice, killing him.

They then fled the scene and returned to the Hacienda Lodge. After examining video evidence and gathering witness statements, the Ewings’ residence, Room 126 at the Hacienda Lodge, was under surveillance by law enforcement. The Ewings were detained on Jan. 12, 2021, by Clarkston police as suspects in the shooting and later arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.