'Sons of Anarchy' actor dead in Hollywood murder mystery
Investigators believe "Sons of Anarchy" actor Johnny Lewis brutally
killed his elderly landlord Wednesday before falling to his death as he
tried to escape police whose sirens he heard approaching.
It could be weeks before
police understand the cause of what they say was a violent rampage by
Lewis, 28, that led to the death of Katherine Davis, 81.
Police suspect drugs were
involved, but "we don't have any hard evidence that says he was on
anything right now," LAPD Commander Andrew Smith said.
Toxicology findings from
the autopsy conducted Thursday by the Los Angeles County coroner will be
crucial to determining if the actor was under the influence of drugs,
Smith added. It is expected to take at least a month before the report
is done.
"After 'bath salts,' new
drugs are coming out all the time and young people try new drugs all the
time," Smith said. "That's, of course, one of the things that our
detectives are going to look into, whether he was using that or anything
else."
No one saw what happened
inside the house where Davis, the homeowner, was found brutally beaten
to death, Smith said. The only witnesses were the man who owned the
house next door and a painter who say they were attacked by Lewis before
he fell to his death.
Other neighbors told police they heard a woman's screams and glass breaking, Smith said.
A large pool of blood
where police say Lewis' head crashed onto the pavement remained Thursday
in the driveway of the house that has for decades been the temporary
home for actors and producers visiting Los Angeles to make movies. The
home is located in the Los Feliz neighborhood near Griffith Park, on the
eastern edge of the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.
The first officer responding to a neighbor's 911 call found Lewis dead in the driveway, Smith said Thursday.
The house "appeared to
have been ransacked," with furniture broken, he said. Davis was found
dead on the second floor of the three level house with her dead cat
nearby in a "gruesome scene," police said.
Davis, who lived in the
home for decades, "typically rented to people in the movie industry,
writers and actors, and they would come up here because it's a
wonderful, quiet neighborhood," Smith said.
David Thoresen, who has
serviced the home's garden fountain for five years, said Davis was a
small woman, standing no more than 5-feet, 3-inches tall.
"She was the happiest, nicest lady I ever met in my life," Thoresen said. "I loved Kathy."
Lewis lived in the home,
which is on a winding, narrow residential street on a hillside on the
eastern edge of Hollywood, for about two weeks, Smith said.
Lewis is credited with
playing Kip "Half Sack" Epps in 26 episodes of the first two seasons of
"Sons of Anarchy" on the FX Network, according to the Internet Movie
Database. His character was killed off in the finale of season two.
"Sons" creator Kurt
Sutter, in an extended Twitter posting Thursday, called Lewis' death "a
tragic end for an extremely talented guy, who unfortunately had lost his
way."
"I wish I could say that
I was shocked by the events last night, but I was not," Sutter's tweet
said. "I am deeply sorry that an innocent life had to be thrown into his
destructive path. Yes, it's day of mourning, but it's also a day of
awareness and gratitude. Sadly, some of us carry the message by dying."
This week's episode of
"Sons of Anarchy," a series based on a violent motorcycle gang with
graphic violence, included the death of "Opie," a major character.
Sutter's Twitter posting noted "the sad irony of it happening two days
after opie's death is not lost on me."
Sutter told TV writer Alan Sepinwall in an interview published in December 2009 that "Johnny wasn't happy on the show."
"Creatively, he really
wanted out of his contract," Sutter told Sepinwell. "We had ongoing
conversations, and we decided we'd find some noble way for him to go."
Lewis played Dennis "Chili" Childress in nine episodes of "The O.C." in 2005 and 2006, according to IMDb.com.
His last work was in an
independent movie, "186 Dollars to Get Out," which was scheduled to
release this month, the IMDb.com listings said.
Lewis, whose full name
is Jonathan Kendrick Lewis, was born and raised in Los Angeles. He holds
dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship, according to his IMDb biography.
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