Philadelphia DA says prior misconduct led to murder acquittal of suspect now charged in officer shooting
District Attorney Larry Krasner said investigative errors and false testimony caused a 2019 murder acquittal of Eric Lewis, who is now facing more than 70 charges for the killing of Officer Shane Seiber.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told NBC10 that the acquittal of 35-year-old Eric Lewis in a 2019 homicide case resulted from misconduct by detectives and a former police officer, and that the errors forced the judge to find him not guilty. Krasner said the case involved false statements, falsified paperwork and a fabricated witness claim that led to the dismissal of the earlier murder charge.
Lewis was arrested in 2020 after a witness identified him in a photo lineup as the gunman who killed Christopher Williams in August 2019 during a road-rage incident. He was later acquitted after a judge determined that investigative misconduct compromised the case.
"We were dealing with a guilty man," Krasner said.
"One of them did not do a variety of things that needed to get done and misled people about whether they were done, filled out law enforcement paperwork falsely, stating that certain things had been done and then tried to blame others," he added.
Krasner identified former police officer Naeem Crawley, who had a reported relationship with Lewis's sister, as the source of the most serious wrongdoing. Crawley allegedly fabricated a tip about a non-existent suspect named "Spice" and later admitted to lying to prosecutors.
"He tried to torpedo his participation in the case by making up a huge lie," Krasner said.
Crawley was dismissed from the police department in September 2025 and is contesting his termination, according to Sgt. Eric Gripp, a department spokesperson. Gripp said the department remains focused on supporting Officer Shane Seiber’s family and the injured officer.
Lewis, a former Philadelphia Water Department employee, now faces more than 70 charges, including murder, for the Saturday shooting that killed Officer Seiber and wounded another officer. Krasner said the detectives involved in the earlier case failed to perform their duties, contributing to the current situation, and pledged to avoid similar errors in the new prosecution.