A 41-year-old rural Salem woman who held up her manager at the Wendy’s Restaurant in Salem in October 2021 after calling in sick has been sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Judge Mark Stedelin handed down the sentence to Christina Lewis of Woodard School Road at the close of her sentencing hearing in Marion County Court on Friday. When earlier pleading guilty to the armed robbery charge, the sentencing range had been set between 15 and 25 years.
The Judge felt the sentencing range was fair. He noted Lewis had no criminal history and the incident was an aberration in her behavior that he didn’t think would happen again. But then he said Lewis had no business handling a weapon having never fired a gun. He noted from the testimony and video at the time of the robbery that she kept her finger on the trigger and the gun could have gone off and killed the victim. Stedelin said she did it for money plain and simple and she had other options.
When taking the stand, the Wendy’s manager asked for the maximum 25-year sentence. She noted she moved to Salem from a bigger city in 2021 to be in a safe place, but nothing feels safe to her anymore. She considered Lewis as a friend in addition to a co-worker. The victim testified to an overwhelming sense of paranoia that now follows her where ever she goes. Before the incident, she described herself as outgoing and enjoying life. Now she is afraid to be in a closed room and still hears the change hitting the floor.
Salem Police Detective Dan Bosomworth led the judge through the video surveillance from Wendy’s which show Lewis entering and staying in the back room waiting for an opportunity to walk up behind the manager and put the gun to her neck. As she forced the manager to empty the safe, the gun was kept to the manager’s neck. Bosonworth also testified to Lewis being taken into custody as she was leaving the store after an employee arriving for work called 911. He reported the loaded gun had no bullet in the chamber and $3,300 in cash stolen from the store were recovered.
Lewis told the stand in her own defense. She said she had called in sick the day of the robbery to get a loan. When that was rejected Lewis said she was completely devastated and only had 14 cents and no food for her seven-year-old son. Embarrassed about leading her family to bankruptcy, she took her husband’s gun which she had never fired and went to Wendy’s. Lewis said she never meant to harm anyone.
Lewis’s father, Lindall Fullerton of Salem, explained how Christina was born under duress and was a special education student who was bullied and treated horribly in school.
As the sentencing hearing closed, Lewis, who said she had trouble reading, had Public Defender Craig Griffin read her statement of allocution. Lewis said her only intent that day was to obtain a loan and she regrets not handling the situation better. She said she was deeply sorry for the emotional pain she has caused the victim as well as for leaving her husband to be both mother and father for their son. Lewis asked for leniency so she can get back with her family as soon as possible.
