Lewis pleads no contest

Michael Lewis, 22, pleaded no contest Tuesday morning to two of the six original charges he faced in Thayer County District Court. 

No contest is treated the same as a guilty plea, district Judge Vicky Johnson told Lewis. 

The court accepted Lewis’s plea to attempted use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony and terroristic threats. He faces 1-50 years in prison on the first plea and 0-3 years on the second. 

Lewis could also be fined $10,000 and be subject to restitution.  

Sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 4 at 10:15 a.m. 

Johnson ordered Lewis to contact probation and undergo a chemical evaluation prior to sentencing.  

 Gail VerMaas of the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office represents the state in the case and Ben Murray is Lewis’s attorney. 

Lewis was charged in an incident that took place during a party at Cody Fitzgerald’s residence in Davenport Oct. 26-27, 2018.

After a verbal exchange, Lewis and Cody Krula left the scene with Krula vowing to return and kick everybody’s [expletive], Vermaas read from a report. 

Upon their return, Lewis exited the truck and fired three shots, then pointed his firearm at others. 

Thayer County deputies were called to the scene at about 1:31 a.m., but Lewis and Krula had left. Deputies concluded they would continue the investigation and obtain arrest warrants later, if necessary, according to a warrant-less arrest affidavit served on Lewis the following day. 

Following the incident, at approximately 3:24 a.m., Lewis called Thayer County dispatch and reported he had caught two people breaking into his Hebron residence, and he had shot them with a pistol. 

Brothers, Remington and Reuben Elting had gone to Lewis’s residence, and deputies saw them with gunshot wounds when they arrived at Lewis’s residence. 

Both were transported to Thayer County Health Services, where Remington Elting was pronounced deceased. Reuben Elting was ultimately transported to BryanLGH-West Medical Center in Lincoln, and listed in critical condition. 

Lewis was charged with first degree assault and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony in the shooting of Reuben Elting. He was not charged in Remington Elting’s shooting. 

Charges in the shooting of Reuben Elting were eventually dismissed.

Throughout the proceedings, Lewis, a construction worker, has stayed out on bond.