A divorce lawyer in Georgia was allegedly shot to demise by the estranged husband of one in every of his shoppers.
Legal professional Doug Lewis was gunned down inside his workplace on December 6 by suspect Allen Tayeh, 65, Lawrenceville police stated. Lewis was representing Mr Tayeh’s spouse in a contentious divorce battle that started in January 2021, native information station KENS5 reported.
Authorities stated after killing Lewis, Mr Tayeh’s allegedly set the constructing on hearth. Mr Tayeh, who additionally suffered burn accidents, was discovered within the neighborhood of the crime scene.
“It is fairly brazen. It is sort of out of the blue,” Lawrenceville Police Lieutenant Jake Parker stated on Thursday. “… [Mr Tayeh] did have a firearm on him. A revolver that had spent cartridges within the cylinders. And there have been fuel cans and an odor of gasoline across the space as properly.”
Courtroom data reviewed by 11Alive present that Mr Tayeh had been ordered by the court docket to pay his spouse’s authorized charges after their marriage was dissolved in August. When Mr Tayeh didn’t make the $28,483 fee inside 30 days of the decide’s ruling, Lewis filed to carry Mr Tayeh in contempt.
A court docket listening to had been scheduled for 14 December.
Mr Tayeh had additionally been ordered to pay half of his retirement advantages, and provides his spouse $500 month-to-month alimony funds.
It’s unclear whether or not he paid these charges. Lewis made the filings in opposition to Mr Tayeh on 1 December.
“The fee for lawyer’s charges was on account of be obtained by Plaintiff’s counsel on or earlier than November 30, 2022. Defendant didn’t make the fee for lawyer’s charges as ordered by the court docket. Defendant is in willful contempt of the Courtroom’s Order dated October 31, 2022,” the doc learn.
After his arrest, Mr Tayeh was charged with homicide and first-degree arson.
He’s being held with out bond at Gwinnett County Jail.
In the meantime, Lewis was fondly remembered by a colleague because the “lawyer’s lawyer.” He had served as an lawyer for 30 years earlier than his demise.
“Nobody, no household and no neighborhood ought to expertise the agony that’s at present reverberating all through proper now. However this insanity has develop into commonplace, nearly accepted, in our neighborhood,” former decide Kathy McCart Schrader stated in a press release.
“I knew Doug as a colleague that I admired and revered within the justice system. He was the lawyer’s lawyer. He was all the time type, compassionate, skilled and respectful as opposing counsel and as an advocate earlier than me within the courtroom. He was one of many few attorneys I truly loved working with and in opposition to.”
In response to his obituary, Lewis spent his free time volunteering at meals pantries and educating youth sports activities in Gwyneth County.
He’s survived by his spouse and three grownup youngsters.