Cairo, IL – Samuel L. Lewis, 43, of Cairo, was sentenced on Wednesday to 70 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the murder of Lafayette D. Woods. The sentence was handed down following a conviction for First Degree Murder, with an additional penalty for using a firearm in the commission of the crime.
According to the Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigation Zone 7, the investigation began on May 9, 2023, after the Cairo Police Department called for assistance with a shooting death on Sycamore Street. Lewis was arrested a week later, supported by local law enforcement and the Alexander County Sheriff’s Department. The case was successfully prosecuted by the Alexander County State’s Attorney’s Office, culminating in Lewis’s lengthy sentence for his role in the fatal shooting.
