Ee Lee ( 1984 – September 19, 2020) was a

Hmong American Hmong Americans ( RPA: ''Hmoob Mes Kas'', Pahawh Hmong: "") are Americans of Hmong ancestry. Many Hmong Americans immigrated to the United States as refugees in the late 1970s, with a second wave in the 1980s and 1990s. Over half of the Hmong ...

woman who was raped and murdered by two black teenagers in a racially-motivated daylight attack in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The two perpetrators, Kamare Lewis and Kevin Spencer, pleaded guilty to first-degree

reckless homicide Reckless homicide is a type of homicide and crime in which the perpetrator was aware that their act (or failure to act when there is a legal duty to act) creates significant risk of death or grievous bodily harm in the victim, but ignores the ri ...

and second-degree sexual assault in 2023. Later that year, Lewis was sentenced to 26 years in prison, while Spencer was sentenced to 32 years in prison.

Background

Ee Lee, a

, was originally from

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and grew up mostly in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Lee had been homeless since the late 2000s, according to Lee's sister, who described her as "going through an unstable time". Lee was 36-years old at the time of her death. She was survived by a fifteen-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter.

Rape and murder

In the afternoon of September 16, 2020, Ee Lee was sitting on a blanket in Washington Park after buying food at a nearby

Asian supermarket In non-Asian countries, an Asian supermarket largely describes a category of grocery stores that focuses and stocks items and products imported from countries located in the Far East (e.g. East Asia, East, Southeast Asia, Southeast and South Asia ...

when she was attacked by a group of teenagers, who initially intended to rob her. Lee was punched and kicked several times before the youths dragged her to a treeline near Washington Park Lagoon, where she was raped by then-17-year-old Kamare Lewis and then-15-year-old Kevin Spencer while nine others watched. During and after the assault, Lee was beaten with tree branches and then left for dead by the group, who subsequently left the park on foot and bicycles. She was found half-clothed and unconscious, but still breathing at around 9:30 pm. Video footage shows that the perpetrators directed anti-Chinese slurs against the victim. She was taken to

Froedtert Hospital Froedtert Hospital , located in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, is a teaching hospital and a Level I adult trauma center, one of two such facilities in Wisconsin. Froedtert is the primary teaching affiliate of the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), wher ...

for treatment but died three days later.

Legal proceedings

On February 6, 2021, two local African American teenagers, Kamare R. Lewis, 17, and Kevin T. Spencer, 15, were arrested and charged with first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree sexual assault with an aggravating factor of great

bodily harm Bodily harm is a legal term of art used in the definition of both statutory and common law offences in Australia, Canada, England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions. It is a synonym for injury or bodily injury and similar expressions, ...

. Lewis had recorded the rape and murder on his phone and had shared the video with his friends. Approximately nine other youths were present in the video. Spencer confessed to raping and murdering Lee. Spencer was involved in another murder in December 2020. According to the criminal complaint in two different interviews, one of the perpetrators said that they never called for help at all because he thought she was dead or soon to be dead and it "wouldn't have made a difference and that he didn't really care about her at all because she is not someone he knows personally."

Guilty pleas

On March 16, 2023, both Kamare Lewis and Kevin Spencer entered plea deals for the lesser offenses of first-degree reckless homicide and second-degree sexual assault, with the previous charges of first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree sexual assault dropped. Instead of facing a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

as they previously had, they faced 15 to 80 years in prison. On June 16, 2023, Lewis was sentenced to 26 years in prison plus 19 years of extended supervision upon release. Spencer was sentenced on August 3 to 32 years in prison, plus 20 years of extended supervision.

Response

Vigils were held for Lee by the Hmong American Women's Association and broader Wisconsin Hmong community.

Background

Rape and murder

Legal proceedings

Guilty pleas

Response

See also