A Colorado man was arrested for trying to kill his estranged wife after he learned he was not the father of one of their children, and he fatally shot one of the wife’s relatives who “got in the way.”
Kelynn Lewis was sentenced to 57 years in prison on Monday, May 18, for second-degree murder and attempted murder after he was found guilty of targeting his wife and her cousin, Vatrice Little, during an attack in February 2024.
The altercation began after Lewis’ wife, Deandranay McCain, texted him to “inform him that he was not the biological father of one of their children,” according to a press release shared by the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office that announced the sentencing.
“Lewis responded with a threat that he would kill her the next time he saw her,” the release stated. “Later that same day, Lewis entered his estranged wife’s apartment building, forced his way inside, and went to her bedroom. He pointed a handgun at her and opened fire.”
Little got in the middle of Lewis, 34, and her cousin “to protect her” as he shot the handgun five times. McCain “pretended to be dead” by falling to the floor, which ultimately allowed her to survive.
“The defendant was there to murder somebody else — essentially a crime of retaliation for news that he didn’t like — and murdered Vatrice Little in the process,” District Attorney Brian Mason said about the attack, per Law & Crime. “This was a vicious, vicious murder, and Little died heroically. She was literally trying to protect a family member from being killed and then was killed herself while doing so. It’s a tragedy.”
The couple’s four children — who are ages 9, 5, 4 and 3 — were all present at the time of the shooting.
Mason added that Lewis’ motive was “laid out in the text messages” that he sent his wife.
“The text messages were a critical piece of evidence in this case and a critical component of proving the case because they went to motive,” Mason said. “They showed us why the defendant came over to that home and tried to shoot his estranged wife and then shot Vatrice Little when she got in the way.”
While recalling the attack, McCain told KUSA that Little was braiding her hair when her estranged husband intruded and “kept shooting” at them.
“He was coming after me. The first shot, he shot once, and it flew past my ear and my cousin was standing right next to me and she jumped in front of me to try and protect me,” McCain recalled. “He kept shooting.”
Lewis was arrested two days after the attack and he was found guilty on February 13.
Following the sentencing, Mason said that Little’s actions “were nothing short of heroic.” Mason praised her for stepping “in front of a murderer to try to protect her cousin.”
“That’s a pretty remarkable act of courage, heroism and sacrifice,” Mason concluded.
