COVINGTON, La. — 29-year-old Mariel Danell Lewis of Slidell has plead guilty to a single count of attempted murder, three counts of aggravated battery, and a single count of resisting an officer with force or violence, according to District Attorney of the 22nd Judicial District Warren Montgomery.
Lewis was subsequently sentenced to 30 years in prison, with no possibility of parole, probation, or a suspended sentence. This was her first offense.
On May 18, 2021 Slidell Police were sent to a Days Inn in Slidell on a call reporting a stabbing. Officers arrived and found the victim, a front desk clerk for the hotel, lying on his back, covered in blood with puncture wounds to his body.
Two witnesses identified the Lewis as having stabbed the clerk. Officers found Lewis holding a bloody box-cutter style knife and with wet blood on her clothes and person.
Lewis didn't comply with officers’ instructions, became agitated and took an aggressive stance, daring officers to “shoot” her. Officers tased her and she fell to the ground where officers subdued her.
The investigation found that police learned the victim had advised Lewis and her male companion that they had to leave their room for not paying. During the encounter, Lewis became angry and attacked the victim from behind. Lewis pepper-sprayed the victim and then began stabbing him with a boxcutter, intentionally trying to cut his throat.
Eventually, the victim collapsed to the ground and Lewis continued her attack. Lewis admitted she stabbed the victim repeatedly and followed the victim as he tried to escape out of the room.
Hotel security footage captured the incident, including Lewis’s pepper spraying the victim and two other motel guests who tried to intervene and assist the victim.
