Lewis Goes From Murder Suspect to Super Bowl

Jan. 24 -- A year ago, Ray Lewis was defending himself in court in the case of a fatal stabbing at a post-Super Bowl party. On Sunday, the Baltimore linebacker will lead the Ravens’ defense in Super Bowl XXXV.

"It's like a fairy tale, or a movie, where there's a bad start and a beautiful ending," Lewis said. "But it's real life."

Winning the Super Bowl on Sunday would be the final notch in an unexpected upward trajectory that began at abysmal depths for Lewis when he was charged with murder in a double homicide outside an Atlanta-area nightclub on Jan. 31. After a plea bargain assured his freedom, Lewis soared this season — earning Defensive Player of the Year honors, getting a vote for league MVP and now playing in the Super Bowl.

But the families of the victims say their lives are still at a standstill as they wait for answers to their questions and for justice to be served.

"[The killers] took the best one of our family," says Cindy Lollar-Owens, who says she is still "hurt, in pain, disgusted and sad" over the stabbing death of her nephew, Richard Lollar, last year.

"We didn't pick out Ray Lewis" as a suspect, she said. "The witnesses did."

No Convictions in Case

A year ago, Lewis was with friends at an upscale Atlanta nightclub following the Super Bowl. A fight broke out outside the club around 3:30 a.m., police said, and Jacinth Baker and Lollar were fatally stabbed. A report from the medical examiner's office indicates as many as 10 people might have jumped the victims during the fight, and no fingerprints were found on a knife at the scene.

Lewis and his entourage left the scene via his limousine which was hit by gunshots as it drove away, authorities said. Lewis maintained from the beginning that he was only trying to break up the fight, although some witnesses testified they saw Lewis punching and kicking the victims.

Lewis later admitted to giving a false statement to police when he said he didn't know the other two accused men, Joseph Sweeting and Reginald Oakley. Midway through the trial last summer, Lewis pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice in exchange for testifying against his codefendents Sweeting and Oakley.