Ephraim Lewis (27 November 1967 – 18 March 1994) was an English

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

neo-soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contem ...

and R&B singer and songwriter. He died after falling from a balcony after being tasered during a police pursuit, with only one album to his name.

Death

On 18 March 1994,

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

(LAPD) responded to reports of a "naked black man acting crazy" at 1710 Fuller Avenue, the apartment where Lewis was living. They reported that Lewis had tried to escape the officers, and began climbing the outside balconies. When he reached the top floor there was an altercation. While on the top balcony, the police had used a

taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended t ...

on Lewis three times. Police claimed this had "no apparent effect", although according to reports it was applied directly to Lewis's skin. Lewis fell from the balcony and landed on the courtyard below, suffering extensive head injuries. After being kept alive on a ventilator for several hours, the decision was made to end life-sustaining measures, acting on the advice of the hospital. Lewis died at the hospital that night. The coroner assigned by the LAPD ruled the death as a suicide. It took a month for his body to be returned to the UK. The following month, hundreds of people gathered at the Darlington Street Methodist Church in Wolverhampton for his funeral. His manager, David Harper, covered most of the funeral expenses and the cost of returning Lewis's body to England, but did not attend the service. Lewis was laid to rest on 21 April 1994. Naomi Hobbs, Lewis's cousin, who is a barrister, said: Kevin Bacon, whose Axis Studio discovered Lewis, said: Naomi Hobbs challenged the Police department's account of events. An investigation was not carried out.

Discography

Album

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Ephraim 1967 births 1994 deaths English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English soul musicians British contemporary R&B singers Neo soul singers Musicians from Wolverhampton 20th-century Black British male singers 20th-century English male writers Deaths from falls