Holly Hill, FL – A 33-year-old Holly Hill man with suspected gang ties is finally in jail nearly a year after allegedly shooting at another man, sending bullets flying into 2 nearby apartments in the process.
Lewis I. Hawkins of 10th Street was booked at Volusia County Jail on Tuesday, the end of a joint operation between the Holly Hill Police Department and the United States Marshals Service.
HHPD hasn’t said at this point how or where Hawkins was found and caught.
Hawkins is held without bond at VCJ on charges of attempted first-degree murder, 2 counts of shooting into a building and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in a shooting last October at Holly Point Apartments on 15th Street.
HHPD says they were called out to an apartment there around 1:10am last October 14th, where they found a shaken up 34-year-old Dion Skeeter, his pregnant girlfriend and 3 others in her apartment, including her 2 kids.
Skeeter – a Daytona Beach resident – told police he had just arrived at his girlfriend’s apartment when Hawkins and 2 others drove up to the apartment complex in a silver 4-door car.
At that point, Skeeter told police Hawkins got out of the car and they got into a verbal argument. Skeeter also mentioned in the incident report that he recognized Hawkins as a man he got into an argument with 2 weeks ago at Papi’s Bottle Club on Nova Road.
From there, Skeeter claims Hawkins went back to the silver car, pulled out a gun and started shooting at him as he was walking towards his pregnant girlfriend’s apartment.
HHPD believes Hawkins then got back into the front passenger seat and the driver – since identified as Hawkins’ mother, 54-year-old Sondra H. Conegia – drove away from the scene.
Officers say they found 4 9-millimeter bullet casings in the parking lot soon after they arrived and that none of the bullets hit Skeeter or anyone else. However, some of those bullets did enter the apartment of Skeeter’s pregnant girlfriend and a neighbor’s, causing minor property damage.
Conegia – who lives at the same address as her son – was arrested there hours after the shooting and charged with principal to attempted 1st degree murder. Her arrest report shows that she identified her son as the shooter but denied that they went to the scene knowing that her son was going to try and shoot Skeeter.
HHPD believe Conegia’s silver 4-door Saturn was the vehicle used during the incident. They also think Hawkins may have left that vehicle somewhere near the intersection of Nova Road and 15th Street soon after Conegia drove away from the scene.
HHPD says Hawkins has ties to the Latin Kings gang.
VCJ records show Hawkins has been booked there 5 times since April 2001, but his most recent arrest before Tuesday in Volusia was in November 2004.
Lewis I. Hawkins (mugshot courtesy VCJ)
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