8-year-old boy safe, suspected kidnapper charged with three Florida murders, deputies say
By Michelle Marchante and
Devoun Cetoute
An Amber Alert was issued Friday for Ja’rell Lewis, 8, of Jacksonville, Duval County.
FDLE
After murdering three people in Jacksonville, deputies say a 37-year-old man took a 8-year-old boy — triggering a state-wide Amber Alert. The boy was later found and the man is in cuffs.
While conducting a welfare check on Friday, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office found three dead people inside of a home. As detectives investigated the deaths, they issued an Amber Alert for Ja’rell Lewis, 8, who they believed to be in the company of Terrell Lewis, 37.
#JSO is trying to locate the pictured individuals to ascertain their safety as part of an active homicide investigation. It is possible they are traveling together in a 2006 Suzuki similar to the one shown. #amberalert#fdle#flamberalertpic.twitter.com/daSZfzVues
Later on Friday, they were both found safe, deputies said.
Investigators determined that Terrell was a suspect in the case and was then charged with three counts of murder.
If anyone has any information, they are asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500 or email at JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-8477.
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 2:58 PM.
Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health’s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald’s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow. Support my work with a digital subscription
