A woman from Normal has admitted buying a 9 mm pistol and giving it to a man who used it to kill a police officer.
Regina Lewis, 28, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to the straw gun purchase in November 2020. Lewis bought the Glock 48 and ammunition in Indianapolis and lied on a federal form that she was the end user. Instead, Lewis admitted, she and co-defendant Ashantae Corruthers gave the weapon to Darion Lafayette and later told police in Indianapolis that the gun had been stolen.
Lafayette died in a shooting with police on May 19, 2021. Authorities said Lafayette used the illegally obtained weapon to shoot and kill Champaign police officer Chris Oberheim when officers responded to a domestic disturbance.
Lewis admitted she and Corruthers continued the cover-up after Oberheim’s death by agreeing to have Corruthers falsely tell an ATF special agent investigating the shooting that she purchased the gun for herself, that it was stolen from her in March of 2021, and that she did not know Lafayette.
Lewis faces up to five years in prison for conspiracy to illegally purchase and transfer a firearm and up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to engage in misleading conduct.
Corruthers is scheduled stand trial on June 27 in Urbana.
