Travis Lewis Snowden House murders fact-check
“In 1996, 16-year-old Travis Lewis broke into the historic Snowden House in Arkansas to burglarize it. Instead, he brutally murdered 75-year-old Sally Snowden McKay and her nephew, Lee Baker, before setting the house on fire to destroy the evidence. He was sentenced to prison, where he spent more than two decades behind bars. Most people would never have wanted to hear his name again. But Sally's daughter, Martha McKay, chose an extraordinary path: forgiveness. Believing Lewis had been a deeply troubled teenager who deserved a chance to change, she wrote to him in prison, visited him for years, supported his parole, and even hired him to work at the restored Snowden House after his release. Then history repeated itself. In 2020, after Martha discovered money missing and fired Lewis, prosecutors say he returned to the home and murdered the very woman who had spent years helping him rebuild his life - and she was found dead in the same room her mother had been murdered decades earlier. As deputies closed in, Lewis fled, jumped into a nearby lake, and drowned. It's one of the most heartbreaking true-crime stories ever told. It's a reminder that while forgiveness can transform lives, some people will simply choose not to redeem themselves.”
Summary
Travis Lewis was a teenage offender who, in 1996, murdered Sally Snowden McKay and her nephew Lee Baker during a burglary of the historic Snowden House and was sentenced to a long prison term, serving over two decades. After his release, Martha McKay, Sally’s daughter, befriended and employed him, but in 2020 he killed her, fled, and drowned in a nearby lake. The claim about Lewis setting the house on fire and the specific
Sources 57 searched
- Woman found murdered on same Snowden property at Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas, where mother was killed nearly 24 years earlier
Martha McKay, a member of the Snowden ... The alleged suspect, Travis Santay Lewis, had been convicted of killing Martha’s mother Sally Snowden McKay and her mother’s nephew Lee Baker in September 1996....
- Arkansas woman murdered by same person who murdered her mother 23 years ago: Police - ABC News
Crittenden County Sheriff's Office says Travis Lewis, 39, killed Martha McKay while out on parole for killing her mother 23 years ago. Lewis' body was found in a nearby lake. ... Police identified the alleged killer as 39-year-old Travis Lewis who was on parole since 2018 for the September 1996 murder of McKay's mother and another relative...
- A B&B Owner Was Found Murdered at Her Lakefront Property — By the Same Man Who Murdered Her Mother 23 Years Earlier
When police pulled the man’s body out of the water, they realized who it was: former neighbor Travis Lewis, who had been convicted at 17 years old for the 1996 murders of McKay's mother and cousin.
- Ark. Woman Befriended Mom's Killer Out of 'Spiritual Obligation' — and then He Murdered Her
McKay, 63, was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death at the top of the stairs, near a bag filled with her belongings, as well as a utility knife. Authorities were shocked when they pulled the body of her killer out of the lake (he’d jumped in and drowned during a police chase): it was Travis Lewis, who’d been convicted at 17 for the horrific 1996 murders of her mother, Sally Snowden McKay, 75, and her cousin, Joseph “Lee” Baker, 52, a prominent Memphis blues guitarist.
- Inside the Bizarre Case of a Killer Striking Twice 23 Years Apart, Murdering a Mother and Daughter
Travis Lewis. Crittenden County Sheriffs Department · When police discovered Martha’s body at the top of the stairs, they also found a cloth bag on top of a nearby chair containing several valuables and a bloody kitchen knife, says Grooms. “It was determined that he intended to steal these items,” he says. “However, it was not determined whether his intentions were to burglarize McKay’s home and she was killed in the process or if his intention was to murder McKay then opted to steal the items."
- From Second Chances to a Second Murder in the Historic Snowden House | Travis Lewis
Anyway, apparently the judge didn’t get it either and he was sentenced to 28 and a half years for the murders and five years for the burglary to run concurrently. The judge also set a requirement that he had to serve at least 70% of his sentence.
- Murder Mystery: Murder at Horseshoe Lake, Part 1 - AY Magazine
The circuit judge was David Burnett, the same judge who blocked appeals by Damien Echols and the West Memphis Three. Burnett sentenced Lewis to 28 and a half years for the slayings and five years for burglary and theft.
- Authorities Say Travis Lewis Allegedly Killed Martha McMay
Dottie Jones, the cousin of Martha McKay, told The Memphis Flyer that Lewis had killed Sally Snowden McKay and Lee Baker in 1996 after the pair surprised him while he was committing a burglary. At the time of the dual murders, Lewis had been living at Horseshoe Lake with his parents at a Snowden-owned property. Martha McKay had opposed a capital sentence for Lewis at the time of his sentencing and had befriended him while he was in prison, Jones said.
- Daughter murdered by man who killed her mother 24 years earlier
Martha McKay — a member of the ... at her home, the historic Snowden House at Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas. The suspect in the killing is Travis Santay Lewis, according to Crittenden County Sheriff Mike Allen....
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