Ee Lee (1984 – September 19, 2020) was an Asian-American woman who was raped and murdered by two black teenagers in a
racially-motivated daylight attack in
Milwaukee. The two perpetrators, Kamare Lewis and Kevin Spencer, pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide and second-degree sexual assault in 2023. Later that year, Lewis was sentenced to 26 years in prison, while Spencer was sentenced to 32 years in prison.
Rape and murder
On September 16, 2020, in Washington Park in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, Ee Lee, a Hmong-American woman, was raped by then-17-year-old Kamare Lewis and then-15-year-old Kevin Spencer while nine others watched. She was then beaten and dragged to the pond in Washington Park and left to die. She was found half-clothed and unconscious, but still breathing.
Video footage shows that the perpetrators directed racial slurs against the victim. She was taken to Froedtert Hospital for treatment but died three days later.
Legal proceedings
Two local African American teenagers, Kamare Lewis, 17, and Kevin Spencer, 15, were arrested and charged with
first-degree intentional homicide
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
and
first-degree sexual assault with an aggravating factor of great
bodily harm
Bodily harm is a legal term of art used in the definition of both statutory and common law offences in Australia, Canada, England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions. It is a synonym for injury or bodily injury and similar expressions, t ...
. Lewis had recorded the rape and murder on his phone and had shared the video with his friends. Approximately nine other youths were present in the video. Spencer confessed to raping and murdering Lee.
Spencer was involved in another murder in December 2020.
According to the criminal complaint in two different interviews, one of the perpetrators said that they never called for help at all because he thought she was dead or soon to be dead and it "wouldn't have made a difference and that he didn't really care about her at all because she is not someone he knows personally."
Guilty pleas
On March 16, 2023, both Kamare Lewis and Kevin Spencer entered plea deals for the lesser offenses of
first-degree reckless homicide and second-degree sexual assault, with the previous charges of first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree sexual assault dropped. Instead of facing a
life sentence as they previously had, they face 15 to 80 years in prison.
On June 16, 2023, Lewis was sentenced to 26 years in prison plus 19 years of
extended supervision upon release. Spencer was sentenced on August 3 to 32 years in prison, plus 20 years of extended supervision.
Response
Vigils were held for Lee by the Hmong American Women’s Association and broader Wisconsin Hmong community.
See also
*
2021 Atlanta spa shootings
On March 16, 2021, a shooting spree occurred at three spas or massage parlors in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Eight people were killed, six of whom were women of Asian descent, and one other person was wounded.
A su ...
—Killing of eight people, six of whom were Asian women, at an Atlanta
massage parlor
*
Hmong in Wisconsin
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ee
2020 in Wisconsin
2020 murders in the United States
African-American–Asian-American relations
Asian-American issues
Asian-American-related controversies
Crime in Milwaukee
Criminal duos
Hmong-American culture in Wisconsin
Incidents of violence against women
Murder committed by minors
Racially motivated violence against Asian Americans
Rapes in the United States
September 2020 crimes in the United States
September 2020 events in the United States
Violence against women in the United States
History of women in Wisconsin