Suspect in fatal shooting of 2-year-old in Washington state arrested in Alameda

ALAMEDA — A man wanted as a suspect in an April fatal shooting of a 2-year-old boy in Washington state was arrested Wednesday at a homeless facility in the Bay Area, authorities said.

The suspect, Jerome Lewis Jr., 31, is being held without bail on a fugitive warrant at Santa Rita Jail pending extradition. He has been charged in Washington state with first degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, authorities said.

He was being sought as a suspect in the April 4 fatal shooting of a 2-year-old boy at a restaurant parking lot in Federal Way, Washington. The boy was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

The suspected shooter in the case, a boy who was then 16 but has since turned 17, was arrested Oct. 2 at his home in the town of Federal Way, authorities said. He is to be prosecuted as an adult on murder and attempted murder charges, authorities said.

It was not immediately known how Lewis was traced to Alameda or how long he has been there. He was arrested by Alameda police Wednesday morning at a city-owned housing facility for the homeless.

According to Washington authorities, the intended target of the shooting was the 2-year-old’s father, who had a prior dispute and “bad blood” with Jerome Lewis. The father had parked his SUV in the restaurant parking lot with the 2-year-old and his infant sibling in the back seat.

The two suspects had been alerted by another person that the father was at the lot and drove there in a stolen vehicle, authorities said.

The juvenile suspect shot into the vehicle while standing in the parking lot, then fled in the stolen car Lewis was driving, authorities said The father fired at least one shot in return, authorities said, but none of the suspects were injured.

Lewis was eventually identified as the getaway driver when his DNA was found in the stolen car after it was abandoned. Authorities also said phone records and other evidence linked both suspects to the shooting.