Man sentenced to 56 years to life in fatal stabbing of 11-year-old

A man was sentenced this month to 56 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing his girlfriend’s 11-year-old son, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Rineson Curtis Adams, a 29-year-old black man, was sentenced Feb. 11 in the killing of Jai Shaun Lewis in a Westlake apartment.

For the Record

March 1, 7:40 p.m.: This article incorrectly states that Adams had felony convictions in 1996. They were in 2006.

A jury in January found Adams guilty of one count of murder and one count of child abuse for stabbing Lewis in front of his 5-year-old brother. Adams was also found sane at the time of murder. 

On May 27, 2013, police were called to an apartment complex and found Lewis with stab wounds. Neighbors saw him wheeled out on a stretcher.

Adams was found on the front lawn with stab wounds to his shoulder, police said. The next day, Adams was charged with the killing.

Adams had three prior felony convictions, including two for transportation and sale of a controlled substance in 2008 and 1996, prosecutors said. He was also convicted of burglary in 1996.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @jeromercampbell and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.