4th person involved in 2016 shooting of Carbondale police officer convicted
CARBONDALE, Ill. (KBSI) – A fourth person who was indicted by a Jackson County Grand Jury for a 2016 shooting that injured a Carbondale police officer was convicted on all charges on November 3.
Xavier E. Lewis, 31 of Salina, Kansas, was indicted by a Jackson County Grand Jury in November of 2018 for cannabis trafficking (>5,000 grams), manufacture and delivery of cannabis (>5,000 grams), aggravated discharge of a firearm, and aggravated battery of a police officer with a firearm.
Lewis was located and arrested in Colorado in January of 2022 on the warrant.
He was extradited to Illinois. Due to a conflict, the Jackson County State’s Attorney requested the case be prosecuted by the office of the Illinois Office of the Appellate Prosecutor. It was tried before a Jackson County jury. On November 3, 2023, the jury convicted Lewis on all charges. He will be sentenced at a later date.
On July 31, 2016, Carbondale police officers saw a vehicle driving away after the occupants fired shots toward a group of people present in the 700 block of Robert A. Stalls Avenue at 11:38 p.m.
The officers, who were both in a squad car, tried to stop the vehicle. The driver drove away at a high rate of speed as officers chased north on Marion Street and then east on Dillinger Road. During the chase on Dillinger Road, one of the people in the fleeing vehicle fired a rifle at the officers, striking the squad car and penetrating the windshield. Officer Trey Harris was struck in the face with a projectile. His partner stopped the chase and took Officer Harris to the Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. Officer Harris was taken to a St. Louis hospital for emergency surgery. Officer Harris suffered permanent damage to his vision as a result of the injury which required him to medically retire from law enforcement as a result.
The Illinois State Police assisted with coordinating the investigation. It grew into a multi-state effort to find the suspects. In the following years, investigators identified numerous people as being involved with a cannabis trafficking organization with ties to Kansas, Oregon, and southern Illinois.
Several people were charged with crimes ranging from cannabis trafficking to aggravated battery to a police officer with a firearm.
Christian N. Reichert, 31, of Marion, was indicted by a Jackson County Grand Jury for manufacture of cannabis (>5,000 grams) and cannabis trafficking (>5,000 grams) in September of 2016. He was convicted by a Jackson County Jury on both charges in October of 2018 and sentenced to 23 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Alex B. Karcher, 29, of Salina, Kansas, was indicted by a Jackson County Grand Jury in November of 2018. A warrant was issued for Karcher for manufacture and delivery of cannabis (>5,000 grams), aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery of a police officer with a firearm. Karcher pleaded guilty to the charges in November of 2018 and was sentenced to 27 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Xavier L. McCray, 29, of Salina, Kansas, was indicted by a Jackson County Grand Jury in November of 2018 for manufacture and delivery of cannabis (>5,000 grams), aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery of a police officer with a firearm. McCray pleaded guilty to the charges in July of 2021 and was sentenced to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Xavier E. Lewis, 31 of Salina, Kansas, was indicted by a Jackson County Grand Jury in November of 2018 for cannabis trafficking (>5,000 grams), manufacture and delivery of cannabis (>5,000 grams), aggravated discharge of a firearm, and aggravated battery of a police officer with a firearm. Lewis was located and arrested in Colorado in January of 2022 on the warrant. Lewis was extradited to Illinois. Due to a conflict, the Jackson County State’s Attorney requested the case be prosecuted by the office of the Illinois Office of the Appellate Prosecutor. The case was tried before a Jackson County jury and, on November 3, 2023, the jury convicted Lewis on all charges. He will be sentenced at a later date.
In addition to the work by the Illinois State Police to coordinate this investigation with the Carbondale Police Department, the investigation and prosecution of this case were assisted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, The Jackson County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Illinois Office of the Appellate Prosecutor, the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, the Marion Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Salina, Kansas Police Department and Illinois State Police Division of Forensic Services.
