An Augusta mother has been jailed for the murder of her unrestrained infant son after he died from injuries in a summer crash.
Maiah Lewis, 24, was arrested on Wednesday and held at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center for second-degree murder and other offenses.
Her son, Maison Amir Lewis, was 10 days old when he was critically injured in an Aug. 14 car crash caused by the child’s father, James Bernard Thomas. The child died Oct. 21.
Thomas, 33, was previously jailed after the crash and has also been indicted for murder. He was driving a Chrysler Sebring when he got into a two-vehicle wreck on Kissingbower Road at Milledgeville Road. Lewis was a passenger.
Authorities say their car reeked of marijuana and there was an open container of alcohol. The father was impaired and had run a red light. The couple had a stash of marijuana totaling over 35 grams throughout the vehicle, as well as codeine. Digital scales were found under the seats of both the father and the mother.
The indictment says Thomas and Lewis failed to properly secure the newborn baby in a car seat. He sustained brain bleeding, a lacerated spleen and lung contusions in the crash, injuries he later died from.
The couple is also charged with second-degree cruelty to children and possession of marijuana and codeine with the intent to distribute in the 17-count indictment.
Thomas faces four counts of first-degree homicide by vehicle for allegedly being under the influence of alcohol during the crash, two counts of endangering a child while driving under the influence and additional counts of running a red light, having an open container of alcohol, driving without insurance, a child safety restraint violation and failing to wear a seatbelt.
The mother was not immediately arrested and allowed to remain free as the child was buried Nov. 4, even as Thomas remained in jail. Lewis gave her own details of the August crash in a plea for money on GoFundMe.
From the post: “Maison bug made his grand entrance August 4, 2023 && we were in a 2 vehicle wreck where someone hit us & almost took all of our lives on AUGUST 14,2023 but god gave all of us another chance && Maison gained his beautiful wings OCTOBER 21,2023 . Miracle Maison was a fighter just like his parents . He is no longer suffering no longer in pain ️ I thank God everyday for my MAISON !!!!”
(Reporter Susan McCord contributed to this report.)
