INDIANAPOLIS — A 64-year-old man is in jail after being arrested and charged with a domestic related homicide that occurred in June.

IMPD took 64-year-old Jerry Lewis into custody for his alleged role in the homicide. He is charged with murder.

According to court documents, southeast district officers responded to the 1700 block of Spruce Street around 9:15 p.m. on June 1 and found a woman unresponsive, suffering from gunshot wounds. Indianapolis EMS pronounced the woman dead at the scene. The deceased was later identified as 54-year-old Melisa Hansboro.

Investigators obtained a search warrant for the home and located a fired .380 cartridge casing, a fired bullet and at least one metal fragment in the basement. They also found a black cell phone near Hansboro’s body.

One witness told investigators that Hansboro and Lewis were at their house earlier in the day of the homicide. According to the court documents, the witness told investigators Hansboro was quiet and agitated toward Lewis.

Investigators also interviewed Hasboro’s daughter and learned that Hansboro and Lewis were going through a breakup. The court document stated that the daughter drove to the home and told investigators that Hansboro’s car was missing. The witness and her children tried calling Hansboro and could hear the phone ringing inside the home, but no one answered.

According to court documents, the daughter broke a window screen and allowed her children to enter the home. They found Hansboro unresponsive moments later.

The daughter told investigators Lewis owned two firearms that he kept at a friend’s apartment.

Around 10:20 p.m. on the day of the homicide, Lewis arrived at the police headquarters to request a welfare check on Hansboro.

Investigators obtained a copy of the 911 call that Lewis made in which he stated that a person was stalking Hansboro and wanted to hurt her, according to the court documents.

Lewis told investigators that he and Hansboro were going to get a U-Haul truck to get furniture out. Investigators say Lewis tried calling Hansboro and shut his phone off one minute later.

On June 2, investigators learned that a witness received phone calls from Lewis stating that the missing vehicle was located on Grant Ave. Later, officers found Lewis going into the U-Haul truck parked in front of the residence.

Court documents revealed that investigators watched Lewis go in and out of the home and were able to obtain a search warrant to search the Buick, the U-Haul Truck, and Lewis’ cell phone.

Investigators interviewed the person who Lewis accused of stalking Hansboro. The person revealed that he dated Hansboro for 11-12 years before they broke up. A search warrant was obtained for the man’s phone records.

Court documents showed the man’s cell phone was not pinged in the area of the homicide and no communication between Hansboro and the man took place on June 1.

Later, investigators interviewed one of the children who found Hansboro, who said Hansboro and Lewis had been arguing about a sink earlier in the day.

Court documents revealed that investigators obtained Lewis’ phone records and showed that he was in the area of the residence, which was consistent with surveillance footage at Minnesota and State streets.

The video showed that Lewis was in the passenger seat of the U-Haul truck. Around 6:47 p.m., a maroon Buick Regal drove eastbound on Minnesota Street, through State Street, with a sole occupant in the driver’s seat whose description was consistent with that of Lewis.

According to court documents, Lewis was wearing different clothing from when he and Hansboro were seen at the CubeSmart storage facility to when he showed up at the police headquarters.

Detectives found that Hansboro and Lewis were both at the residence from 5:35 to
6:44 p.m. Investigators said that the place was secured, and no forced entry to the home was found, other than the forced entry by the daughter when she arrived before calling 911.

The Buick was seen leaving the area at 6:44 p.m. Lewis arrived back at the residence with the Buick the next day, with the house and car keys.

“Leaving a domestic violence situation, the lethality goes up drastically,” said Danyette Smith with Indy Champions.

Danyette Smith says the day intimate partners split up, the risk of violence increases.  She encourages people to develop a safety plan to leave relationships if they fear they may be harmed.

“The big picture is connecting with an advocate who is skilled in safety planning, so the day you plan on leaving you have that safety plan in place,” said Smith.

Lewis did not have a criminal history before his arrest for murder.  He’s now being held without bond pending trial.

Jesse Wells contributed to this report.