Witnesses Recall Fleeing For Their Lives Pair Testify Stephen Cherry Killed Ex-Girlfriend
Her roommate was dead, another man had been shot and now Tammy Lewis was running for her life.
As she frantically fled from the bloody scene behind her, Lewis could hear the man with the gun catching up - calling to her.
“Tammy, you might as well stop where you’re at because I’m going to shoot you anyway,” the man called to the frightened woman.
Lewis, 32, broke into tears Tuesday as she recounted the terrifying scene for Judge Robert Burton.
“I thought I was going to die,” she said.
Following a daylong hearing Tuesday, the Kootenai County judge ordered Stephen Cherry to stand trial for first-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Burton reserved ruling on an attempted murder charge.
Cherry is accused of gunning down his former girlfriend, Susan Foutz, as well as shooting her friend, Charles Babb, and threatening to kill Lewis.
The murder provoked public outrage, because Foutz had sought a restraining order against Cherry just days before her death, but was not able to get one. She failed to meet state requirements for such an order.
On Tuesday, the judge listened to Lewis and Babb as they detailed the shooting spree that began early June 2.
Babb, 39, had only known Foutz for a couple of weeks before she was killed.
They had spent the day before her death boating on Hauser Lake, Babb testified Tuesday. That night they went to dinner and then stayed up late watching movies at the home she shared with Lewis in Hauser Lake.
At about 6 a.m. the next morning, Foutz was called to work. Babb followed her outside and got into her car with her. But Cherry had suddenly appeared and was talking to his ex-girlfriend.
“Susan was saying ‘What are you doing here … why don’t you leave me alone?”’ Babb testified.
Then Cherry opened fire with a 30.06 rifle, Babb said.
“I looked down and saw a hole through my arm,” Babb said, his arm still in a sling from the bullet that continued into his stomach. “We both were screaming ‘Oh my God.”’
Dripping blood, Babb scrambled out of the car and ran down the road trying to find help. As he ran, Babb heard two more gunshots.
The gunfire woke Lewis, who’d been sleeping inside. She ran to the door and looked out through a window to see Cherry standing with a gun pointed at her roommate.
Cherry’s public defender, John Adams, questioned whether Lewis actually saw Cherry shoot Foutz. Lewis had difficulty remembering some details.
But “I saw him shoot Sue and then he came in after me,” Lewis testified.
Cherry pounded on the door as Lewis called 911. Then he blasted apart the door knob with the gun, Lewis testified.
She could hear Cherry calling to her as she fled through a back door. Despite his threats she didn’t stop running.
“If he’s going to shoot me, he’s going to shoot me running,” Lewis remembered saying to herself.
Both Lewis and Babb made it to safety. Foutz was found dead in the car. Cherry eventually shot himself in the chest and had to be treated at the hospital’s intensive care unit.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Cherry’s attorney tried to prevent the admission of interviews Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies had with Cherry in the hospital.
Detective Kent Johnston said that Cherry told him he shot his girlfriend because he was angry at her. However, Adams pointed out that Cherry was under the influence of medication when he was interviewed and at times did not appear to remember the shooting.
Judge Burton will wait to decide whether Cherry is charged with attempted murder or a lesser charge for shooting Babb until he has more information. It is unclear whether Cherry intended to shoot Babb or accidentally shot him because he was near the intended target - Cherry’s former girlfriend.
“He was very possessive and obsessed with her,” said Brenda Symons, Foutz’s close friend who attended Tuesday’s hearing. “He had threatened to kill her many times.”
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