Thurston County judge sets no-bail hold for man accused of murdering missing woman in 2021
A 37-year-old man accused of murdering a woman in 2021 is being held in the Thurston County jail without bail.
James Daniel Lewis, who was arrested over the weekend, attended his preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court on Tuesday.
The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office alleges Lewis shot and killed a woman, tentatively identified as Amanda Green, in the summer of 2021 and buried her in east Lewis County. A family member reported Green missing to the Tacoma Police Department in August 2021. Lewis reportedly confessed to the murder and led deputies to Green’s remains over the weekend, according to court records.
Judge Christopher Lanese found probable cause for second-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful disposal of remains. He then ordered Lewis be held in jail without bail until further order.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Emily Dawson requested a no-bail hold in a memo to the court. Dawson said a second-degree murder charge, a class A felony, is punishable by up to life in prison.
“He is accused of shooting and killing the victim and ultimately burying her body in a shallow grave in Lewis County. This offense occurred in 2021 and the concealment of the body prevented its discovery until 2025,” Dawson wrote.
Lewis was previously convicted of third-degree rape of child in a 2015 Pierce County Superior Court case. He is currently facing a failure to register offense in connection with the 2015 case.
More recently, he was convicted of third-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm in a 2024 Thurston County Superior Court case.
“Under these circumstances, it is clear that the defendant demonstrates a propensity for violence along with his intent to conceal or destroy the evidence in this case,” Dawson wrote. “This along with his prior and current criminal charges supports a finding that bail is not appropriate or warranted in this case.”
Public defense attorney Diana Wildland represented Lewis at the Tuesday hearing. She requested the court impose provisional findings and set an evidentiary hearing where the no-bail hold matter could be revisited by an appointed lawyer.
Lanese opted not to schedule the evidentiary hearing right away so the attorneys involved could identify a time that works best for them.
The investigation
A probable cause statement describes the investigation into Lewis from the perspective of law enforcement.
A family member first reported Green missing on Aug. 4, 2021, to the Tacoma Police Department. Police did not immediately suspect foul play and instead entered her information into a missing person database.
Later that month, the family member informed a Tacoma detective that her daughter had been contacted by a tipster who had information connecting Green to Lewis.
The detective eventually interviewed the tipster. She said Lewis had admitted to her that he shot and killed Green at a Yelm area property where he lived but did not own.
Lewis allegedly told this person that he shot Green because he believed Green was stealing and planned to take over the property. He went on to tell this person that he wrapped Green in a carpet and buried her in a shallow grave about 200 miles away, near Mount Rainier.
On June 4, 2021, Thurston County deputies responded to a call about an abandoned moving truck on a property near where Lewis lived. The truck had been left there for over a week and had been rented out to Green on May 23, 2021, in Tacoma.
The Tacoma detective referred the case to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office in 2022 and new detectives interviewed the tipster again.
This time, the tipster shared that Lewis showed her a .44 revolver that he kept hidden under the hood of his truck. She said Lewis told her that he used the gun to kill Green. He added he and another person threw old syringes on Green’s body to make it appear that she overdosed.
In March 2025, a new detective was assigned to the case. On July 2, the detective, another detective and a sergeant responded to the property where Lewis resided to interview potential witnesses.
One witness said she heard Green and Lewis get into an argument on the property and later saw Green dead with a gunshot wound to the head. She said Lewis told her that he left the body somewhere 200 miles away in a wooded area.
Another person on the property denied having knowledge of Green.
That same day, the detective learned there was a felony warrant for Lewis’ arrest issued by the Washington State Department of Corrections for escaping from community custody.
On Sept. 5, a DOC Community Custody Specialist informed the detective that they had arrested Lewis and agreed to take him to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office for questioning.
During an interview, Lewis pinned the murder on the person on the property who denied having knowledge of Green. He said he helped this person dispose of the body in a wooded area near Ashford.
Law enforcement drove Lewis to the area and he led them to the gravesite. Detectives began a preliminary dig and soon located possible human remains.
Detectives then returned Lewis to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office while others stayed at the gravesite to coordinate the recovery of the human remains.
During another interview, the detective assigned to the case pressed Lewis further about Green’s death. He ultimately confessed he shot and killed Green, according to the statement.
“I can’t do that to him,” he said of the other person he tried to blame for the murder.
Lewis went on to provide multiple different reasons for getting into an argument with Green and shooting her, including one where he accused her of reaching for a gun.
“Realistically, this all could have been avoided if I would have handled the situation differently,” Lewis reportedly told the detective.
He said the gun he used to shoot Green may still be at property and the truck he used to transport her body was also still on the property.
Following the interview, the detective booked Lewis into the county jail.
On Sept. 8, the detective located another witness. This person said he heard an argument on the property and later saw Green’s lifeless body.
Lewis said he killed Green because he believed she was trying to take over the property, the witness told the detective.
The witness said he never heard anything from Lewis or anyone else about Green reaching for a gun.
This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
