— A Huntsville man accused of shooting his girlfriend in June has been sentenced to serve 14 years in prison for the crime.

Limestone County Circuit Judge Robert Baker sentenced Randy Lamar Lewis, 33, of 2114 Harris Drive during a sentencing hearing Monday.

Lewis pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, a Class B felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison. He had been facing trial on a charge of attempted murder.

Lewis was accused of shooting Kimberly Nance on June 19 with a .357 Magnum handgun while they were driving in his car on U.S. 31 in Limestone County. At the time, Lewis had been going to school in Pennsylvania to study engine repair, Limestone County Sheriff’s Chief Investigator Stanley McNatt said. Nance, who had been Lewis’ girlfriend at times over the past 13 years, had come to stay with him before Memorial Day but had returned home because she did not like it there.

Nance reportedly called Lewis June 17 and suggested they reunite, so Lewis came to Athens and the couple got a room at the Bomar Inn on U.S. 31, McNatt said.

About 7:40 a.m. on June 19, the two were in Lewis’ 1991 Corvette on U.S. 31 between Sanderfer Road and Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road when an argument ensued and the shooting occurred, he said.

After the shooting, Lewis made a bizarre 911 call in which he said a hitchhiker had been shot.

Alias 911 call 

Using the name Randy Jackson, Lewis called 911 and the call went to Morgan County 911. He told the dispatcher he was picking up a hitchhiker who had been shot and bringing her to Decatur General Hospital.

“The call was very suspicious from the beginning,” McNatt said.

At the hospital, a police officer took his statement, but while the officer turned to question another person, Lewis fled, McNatt said.

However, Limestone Deputy Cody Lewter had arrived at the hospital and was able to speak to Nance, who told him it was her boyfriend who shot her, McNatt said.

After a 5- to 10-minute chase, authorities stopped Lewis on Alabama 67 on Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. The gun was found in the car but not Nance’s purse.

During questioning by Sheriff Mike Blakely and Investigator Sean Doyle, Lewis admitted he shot Nance. He told investigators that because she had stabbed him in the past, when she reached for her purse in the car he thought she was getting a knife so he pulled the gun and accidentally shot her.