Millersville Man Sentenced for Craigslist Murder, Apologizes to Family

A Millersville man who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted robbery, spent his last minutes before sentencing apologizing to the victim’s family.

Gregory Lewis, 35, was sentenced to life in prison, with all but 60 years suspended, for first-degree murder, according to the Capital Gazette. Lewis received another 20 years for armed robbery.

On Oct. 31, 2013, Anne Arundel County police were called to a parking lot in the 7400 block of Railroad Avenue in Harmans around 7:45 p.m. for report of a shooting, Patch previously reported. Officers found Rene Leiva-Archila of Baltimore suffering from gunshot wounds to the upper body.

Leiva-Archila was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Investigation revealed Lewis had used a fictional Craigslist ad on a car for sale to lure Leiva-Archila and his 19-year-old son to the parking lot.

Leiva-Archila planned to buy the car from Lewis for $1,700 and send it to his family in Guatemala, the Capital Gazette reports. But when the Leiva-Archila would not give Lewis the money, he shot Leiva-Archila once in the chest with a shotgun, then another time in the back when he fled.

Lewis pleaded guilty in court earlier this month for the murder.

“I truly did not mean for what happened to happen,” Lewis told Leiva-Archila’s family before the sentencing, according to Capital Gazette.

-- Photo: Gregory Lewis. Photo courtesy of Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office.