May 3, 2011
Bar Owner, Rights Activist Gunned Down; Suspect Detained
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Clinton "Billy" Lewis, the owner of a gay bar called Chill in Elmira, New York, and an GLBT equality supporter, was found shot to death in his home on May 1. Police have arrested a man in connection with the case, reported On Top Magazine on May 2.
An update to a May 2 Gannett news article said that police had arrested 20-year-old Louis Duffy in connection with the killing. Duffy has been charged with second-degree murder and is currently being detained without bail. The article also said that authorities had recovered the murder weapon.
According to the Gannett article, Lewis, 53, was shot at about 3:00 a.m. on May 1. Police responded to a call and found Lewis in his home. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The relationship between victim and suspect is not clear. The article said the two men were "acquaintances," and also said that Lewis "did not live by himself," but did not identify any housemates by name.
The article also said that the suspect was a "Horseheads man," but did not say where in Horseheads Duffy's address might be.
Lewis' business partner, Tom Schreur, expressed shock at the killing.
"Bill was a friend to so many," said Schreur, who lives above the bar, which is located across the street from Lewis' home. "I didn't hear anything. I was asleep," added Schreur. "Nobody knows anything at this point. Nobody is telling us anything."
Lewis wasn't only a friend to the GLBT community, said mourners. A crowd gathered outside the bar on the afternoon of May 2.
"He was a dear friend," Alexis Franchi told the media. "He helped me out, and helped my little brother out." Added Franchi, "He opened his door to anyone who needed help."
"He would give his shirt off his back for anybody," said Katrina Howard. "He really loved people."
The case bears parallels to the murder of Durand Robinson in Atlanta last year. Robinson, owner of Atlanta gay nightclub Traxx and organizer of Black Gay Pride in Atlanta, was killed in what police described as a carjacking.
Two other men associated with Black Gay Pride were shot to death "execution style" a few weeks later.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
