Teen accused of killing twin brother freed after 18 months

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- An Ohio teenager who's no longer charged with killing his identical twin says he can forgive police and prosecutors. But he says he plans to sue, because he must be compensated for spending 18 months behind bars.

TheGrio Staff

Aug 7, 2009

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio teenager who’s no longer charged with killing his identical twin says he can forgive police and prosecutors. But he says he plans to sue, because he must be compensated for spending 18 months behind bars.

Prosecutors yesterday dropped an aggravated murder charge against Derris Lewis in the January 2008 slaying of his brother, Dennis.

This, after a test failed to find his blood on an incriminating palm print. His attorney won’t publicly discuss a lawsuit, other than to say that he won’t “rule it out.”

Lewis says he spent his first day of freedom in more than a year visiting with friends and family, eating at a buffet restaurant, buying an iPhone and ironing his clothes. He also visited his brother’s grave.

Police, meanwhile, said they had presumed from the beginning that a palm print found at the scene was covered in blood.

It wasn’t until crime scene investigators gave conflicting evidence at trial that prosecutors proposed testing it for blood.

The trial ended in a mistrial after a juror said she couldn’t continue because of an illness in her family.