UPDATE 6:17 p.m. May 29, 2025 A 46-year-old Senita woman contacted InMaricopa claiming to be the wife of the man who struck Lewis this morning.

“My husband had accidentally hit the car due to it being stopped on the 347 and they had no car lights on nothing,” she told InMaricopa in the email at 5 p.m.

Notably, the lead investigating agency refused to acknowledge the fatality. The woman said in response to that: “I don’t know why they are not saying anything.” 

“This is a tragedy for sure,” she said.

This is the same location of another fatal pedestrian crash earlier this year.

(First InMaricopa) The family of Valerie Ann Lewis, 39, drove slowly along the shoulder of State Route 347 this afternoon, searching for the site of a deadly wreck to build a roadside vigil and recover personal belongings. 

InMaricopa was first to report today that Lewis was killed in a pre-dawn crash near mile marker 177, just north of city limits and south of Casa Blanca Road. Her family members told InMaricopa she had stopped to change a tire and was waiting for her boyfriend to arrive when she was struck by a passing vehicle. 

Seated in a sedan near the highway, four relatives said they needed help locating the exact site of the crash. The amount of debris left from car wrecks made it difficult for the family to identify exactly where it happened. Balloons and flowers filled the back seat. The family said some of Lewis’s personal items had not been returned and they wanted to find them in the tall grass before laying the memorial. 

The case is being investigated by the Gila River Police Department, which refused to comment about the crash today. 

Lewis was a Sacaton resident.