Anthony Lewis Jr. Gets Life For Killing Parents In Rotterdam

On Independence Day 2023, a man from New York fatally stabbed his mother and stepfather and will be imprisoned for the rest of his life.

Lewis, Anthony Jr.

The remains of 73-year-old Robert Guillaume and his 65-year-old wife, Cathy Guillaume, were discovered on Friday, July 7, inside a house on Fern Avenue in Rotterdam.

In Schenectady County Court on Wednesday, July 30, Anthony Lewis Jr., 33, of Rotterdam, was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole, with an additional three to seven years to follow for similar offenses.

Lewis was found guilty of a jury in May of killing his mother, Cathy Ayala-Guillaume, and his stepfather, Robert Guillaume, on July 4, 2023, at their house on Fern Avenue in Rotterdam. According to the prosecution, he then stayed at the residence for over a day before escaping in his stepfather’s vehicle.

Later, investigators followed Lewis south via Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He was taken to a hospital for observation after crashing the stolen 2022 Buick Encore on Interstate 80 on July 6, 2023. The bodies of Ayala-Guillaume and Guillaume were found by Rotterdam police the next day while conducting a welfare check at the request of worried family members.

After being arrested in Pennsylvania, Lewis was extradited to Schenectady County.

Lewis took the stand during the trial and confessed to the murders, saying he was acting in accordance with divine guidance. The jury found him guilty on all counts, including two counts of first-degree murder, illegal use of a vehicle, and fourth-degree grand larceny, after only 30 minutes of deliberation.

The case was based on a lot of digital and forensic evidence. From the crime site, New York State police retrieved more than 100 DNA samples, several weapons, and clothing that connected Lewis to the killings.

The conviction was further bolstered by license plate readers, cell tower information, phone data, and the accounts of two witnesses who claimed Lewis confessed to them.

Robert Carney, the district attorney for Schenectady County, stated that Lewis killed those who loved him with a certain savagery and that his lack of regret made him a dangerous man who should never be allowed to leave prison.