‘My kids are gone’: Mother distraught following triple murder, alleged kidnapping of grandson

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE 1:36 p.m.- Terrell Lewis’ next court appearance will be May 23, 2022 at 9 a.m. He is being held on no bond.

An 8-year-old boy is safe after an alleged kidnapping and his father is in jail.

Police say Terrell Lewis was the shooter in a triple murder in Arlington, killing the mother of his child and her two siblings.

STORY: 8-year-old boy missing from Jacksonville found safe, father charged with murder

“Once I heard it, I was shook and feel like I’m in a bad dream,” said the family’s grandmother Kimberly Levens. “I can’t believe my kids are gone, all three of them. All three of them.”

37-year-old Terrell Lewis now sits in jail with three counts of second-degree murder.

“I kept calling and calling and they wasn’t answering the phone and that wasn’t right because my son calls me back,” Levens said.

Police say the triple homicide at the River City Landing apartments Friday morning was connected to an Amber Alert kidnapping, which was for Lewis’ son, Ja’rell.

Ja’rell was found safe along with Lewis.

Levens said her children —Johnisha, Jamonica and Jordan Williams — were shot and killed at the Arlington apartments. Johnisha was Ja’rell’s mother.

“They were good kids, they were good it’s all I can say,” Levens said. “They were wonderful.”

She said she knew something was wrong when nobody picked up the phone no matter how many times she called.

“From my understanding, they asked why he did it and he said because they disrespected him but at the same time you came into their home and took their lives so how did they disrespect you,” Levens said.

Court records show Lewis has a criminal history, including a few domestic battery arrests with the most recent from 2016. The charges were dropped but Johnisha filed a restraining order.

RELATED STORY: Boy kidnapped from triple-murder scene in Jacksonville found safe

In 2018, Johnisha requested the court to forgive Terrell for his past, saying it was hard on their son and that he had been given another chance.

In 2019, the restraining order was lifted.

“I felt he was responsible for it because of the past incidents with him,” Levens said.

Levens said she hopes Lewis gets what he deserves.

“I hope they fry his butt. He shouldn’t have taken my kids away from me and my grandson’s mom,” she said, “That’s it. Get what he deserves.”

Levens said 8-year-old Ja’rell is staying with her. She said he’s going to wonder where his mother is and she will have to let him know what happened.

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