Man who beat his girlfriend going to prison

Willie James Lewis, 26, was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to a second degree felony of a burglary of a habitation and second degree felony of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

He pleaded to the court without a plea agreement.

After the pleas and testimony by witnesses, Lewis asked for probation while the prosecution asked for 20 years in prison.

The judge assessed 15 years on both counts, to run concurrently.

The underlying offense occurred on May 17, 2009 when the defendant entered the apartment of a former girlfriend.

Upon seeing someone else there, he ordered the other person to leave and proceeded to beat his girlfriend.

He then drug the victim by her hair to the truck where he proceeded to assault her as he was driving, according to

Upon calling his mother on the cell phone, he returned the Victim to her apartment, but did not take her to the hospital, saying he was, “Scared”. A relative later took the Victim to the hospital where she was treated for an orbital (eye socket) fracture and many bruises. An in-depth investigation by the Kingsville Police Department revealed Blood spatters were found in the apartment and inside the vehicles.

Testimony was submitted by a former girlfriend and by the Defendant’s father and mother stating that they had never seen the Defendant angry before and that he was not a threat to the Community. However, the State based its recommendation on a previous conviction for Assault on a Public Servant for which the Defendant served prison time, a conviction for resisting arrest, and several other misdemeanor convictions.