The man found dead Sunday morning in the empty lot at Federal and Republican has been identified as 37-year-old Zachary Lewis, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s office which released the information after working to notify the man’s family. Lewis was found beaten to death on the site of the future FedRep park by a passerby early Sunday.
According to people who have spoken with investigators working on the case, Lewis was known to police due to past run-ins with the law. According to one person who asked to remain anonymous, the man was a resident at an Eastlake facility for chronic alcohol addiction. We have not yet confirmed this with DESC, the agency that runs the 1811 Eastlake supportive housing facility.
So is this really the neighborhood I live in? Some poor guy has both arms broken and his skull shattered then is left in the park. Then the police have nothing to say to us, there’s just a statement that they’re looking into it? And I see no comments here from fellow readers. What gives? People, make a little noise! This is disturbing!
I totally agree too close, I understand things take time but it would be nice to hear something from the police. We need justice and we need this resolved ASAP. Lets get this started!
I asked SPD Monday morning if they planned any briefing on the situation and was told there were no plans at that point. I’ll check again on Thursday and also check in with East Precinct command tonight.
East Precinct might be up for a community session or for attending the next mtg of community council next Thursday.
I would really appreciate anything you could do, this is so devastating on so many levels. It is so awful this man has lost his life in such indignity. RIP. I love my city, my neighborhood, my freedom and my life. This is up to all of us to make this right and turn our community into what we want. Every situation has a positive and hopefully this will be found in the conversations and warmth we share with our neighbors moving forward. That is our park and our hill.
It’s a tragic thing that this man lost his life. Granted, there’s much we don’t know about the circumstances that led to his death or the victim himself, but someone was brutally killed in our neighborhood. The fact that he was a 1811 Eastlake resident should not make us any less concerned/passive/compassionate. But what to do? I guess with so little information it’s tough to know how to respond. (Hello…SPD…??)
The fact that the police aren’t saying anything means one of two things:
1) They don’t know anything. Keep in mind, this murder wasn’t reported until someone happened upon the body the next morning, so it seems there were no witnesses.
2) Publicly announcing certain information might undermine the investigation in any number of ways. For example, it might tip off the suspect to what police know, thereby giving him an opportunity to refine his alibi. Also, a common interrogation technique is to get a suspect to reveal information that only someone present during the crime would know. (E.g., Suspect: “Officer, I’d never break a man’s arms.” Officer: “How did you know his arms were broken?”) If that information is made public, however, they obviously can’t use that technique.
Of course, we all want to know more information about what happened, but the number one priority of the police is to find the killer, not satisfy our curiosity.
SPD spokesperson said basically this to me just now on phone. They have no new information to make available on the situation.
Precinct makes community meeting decisions, however, so still checking on any plans there. But, given the above, expectations for any kind of meeting providing much new insight should be tempered.
We’ll continue to follow.
I agree w/the the person of “no comment(s)” and feel the same way about the neighborhood where I live. What’s so shocking is that there is no witnesses (or any who wants to own up) to this crime! How can someone be beaten to death and NO ONE hears or sees anything?!?! This is appalling and just floors me! Are we too self absorbed in our own lives that when something like this happens that we rely on (or hope) that someone else will report it, speak up or come forward instead. Please lets make some noise and demand more from the SP. I also can;t believe the lack of media coverage in trying to catch the killer – instead they just gives us another bad story in the nightly news and leave us hanging.
Thank you Seandr for saying something logical and not some stupid cliche about how WE need to do something about this and/or have some obligatory pride for a square of land that we live in. I have lived right across the street from where the murder took place for over a year and the only interaction I’ve had with my neighbors is watching them look down at the sidewalk as we make eye contact. There’s no sense of community on this block; it’s just insincere, lip service condolences that this neighborhood seems to be offering. You’re looking at the world through the eyes of fear and it’s disgusting.
what happened to zack is barbarick to say the least. It was certainly done by some wacked out motherfucker. i can’t belive there was no one out at that time of day someone had to have seen something some one afraid to say any thing.
CleverHandle-I have lived here 15 years, you are the problem. Move.