Delbert Charles Lewis, a 66-year-old Black man known to some as "Charlie," was a resident of Beaumont, Texas, and the owner of a local trucking business. In the early morning hours of September 27, 2023, at approximately 4:20 a.m., Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to his home in the 8000 block of A and M Street for a reported shooting. They arrived to find Lewis on the floor of his master bedroom, suffering from a single gunshot wound to his left ribcage. Though in critical condition, Lewis was able to tell the deputies that he had been asleep when he was shot.
Also at the residence was Lewis's girlfriend, 40-year-old Tracy Marie Samuel, who lived with him. Samuel told investigators that she and Lewis had been in bed asleep when she woke up to use the bathroom. She stated that while in the bathroom, she smoked crack cocaine. According to her account, the next thing she remembered was returning to the bedroom and dropping a gun.
Samuel claimed she was shocked when the weapon discharged and said she fell to the ground, where she found Lewis next to her, saying he had been shot. She called 911 and repeatedly told authorities that the shooting was an accident.
Investigators found a Smith & Wesson M&P .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol on the floor near the foot of the bed, along with a spent .40 caliber shell casing. Lewis was transported to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery for a lacerated liver. Despite the efforts of medical staff, Delbert Lewis succumbed to his injuries six days later, on October 3, 2023.
On the same day that Lewis died, deputies arrested Tracy Samuel and charged her with murder. A Jefferson County grand jury indicted her on that charge on October 18, 2023. A judge set her bond at $800,000, and she was held at the Jefferson County Correctional Facility. In January 2025, Tracy Marie Samuel went to trial for the murder of Delbert Lewis.
