Death row inmate dies in prison

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- A man who was sentenced to death for setting fire to his ex-girlfriend and her 6-year-old daughter has died behind bars, state prison officials said Monday.

Napoleon Lewis Jr., 43, of Spencer, apparently suffered a heart attack and died about 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie said.

The state medical examiner's office is conducting an autopsy to confirm the cause of death, Massie said. There was no indication when it would be complete.

Lewis' attorney, Bob Nance, said he had verified Lewis' death but had no other information.

Lewis was convicted of dousing his girlfriend, Anita Bebout, 42, and her daughter, Tressa, with gasoline and setting them ablaze with a cigarette lighter in Oklahoma City on March 28, 1995.

Prior to the attack, Lewis chased and rammed Anita Bebout's car from the rear, forcing her to stop in a parking lot.

Lewis told reporters he was upset with Ms. Bebout because she was with another man.

Relatives of Ms. Bebout said she had broken up with Lewis a year before the attack and had been stalked and harassed since then. In November 1994, an Oklahoma County judge issued a victim's protection order to Ms. Bebout and ordered Lewis to stop harassing her.

Ms. Bebout said Lewis rear-ended her car as she was returning from picking up her daughter at school.

Anita Bebout died 18 days after the attack.

Tressa, now 11, was hospitalized for 37 days and underwent several surgeries. She suffered second- and third-degree burns that left her permanently disfigured.

A jury sentenced Lewis to die for Anita Bebout's slaying and gave him a life sentence for child abuse. The jury dismissed trial attorney Charles Rouse's argument that Lewis was mentally ill.