By Shereen Siewert
A trial for the 36-year-old Wausau woman charged in connection with a July 2019 drive-by shooting in downtown Wausau has been set for Feb. 1.
Amanda Lewis faces two counts of attempted first-degree homicide, as party to a crime, along with several related charges. The charges were filed July 9, 2019 in Marathon County Circuit Court following an intense investigation into the alleged shooting, which shook residents and business owners in the area.
Police say Lewis was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Maurice Bell, who allegedly shot at two teenagers in the area of North First Street and McIndoe Street. No one was injured in the shooting, which is being described as retaliation for a perceived connection with the near-fatal beating of a 15-year-old boy two days earlier on Chicago Avenue. The boy who was beaten, a friend of Lewis’ son, was critically injured in the attack.
Bell allegedly responded to Lewis’ concerns by saying he would bring “2 of my nephews to shoot up the whole (expletive) town,” court documents state. Police say Bell and Lewis are involved in a relationship, and the vehicle used in the drive-by shooting was registered to Lewis.
Bell was arrested in September 2019 near Dallas, Texas in an unrelated case, and extradited to Wisconsin.
Lewis, who is in the Lincoln County Jail, appeared Friday by Zoom video for a motions hearing in the case.
In addition to attempted homicide charges, Lewis faces charges of intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child, maintaining a drug trafficking place and resisting or obstructing an officer. She is being held on a $250,000 cash bond.
The trial, with Circuit Judge Mike Moran presiding, is expected to last two weeks.
