Man Who Pushed Woman in Front of Train Sentenced But Released from Custody

RIVERSIDE (CNS) – A transient who shoved a 52-year-old woman in front of a train, causing her to be struck and killed — in what he contended was an accident as they were arguing — was out of custody Wednesday after being sentenced to two years in jail for involuntary manslaughter.

Kevin Errol Lewis, 42, pushed Mary Kay Maltos of Riverside in front of a freight train on the west end of the city last year.

During a hearing Monday at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Lewis reached a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, under which he admitted the manslaughter count. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors dropped a murder charge against him.

Superior Court Judge Gary Polk certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense — two years in county jail. However, after Polk factored the time that the defendant had served at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, awaiting disposition of his case, as well as matching good conduct credits under a state law intended to reduce overcrowding in correctional facilities, the sentence was voided.

Lewis was released from custody Monday afternoon.

According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, about 6:35 a.m. on April 11, 2022, the defendant was involved in a domestic altercation with Maltos alongside Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks at Madison Street, just south of the Riverside (91) Freeway.

"The investigation determined Lewis … and the victim were engaged in a verbal argument that became physical, during which Lewis pushed the victim into the moving train," Railsback said.

No one on board the train, which immediately stopped after the victim was hit, was injured.

Patrol officers reached the location within minutes and found Maltos dead, after which they initiated a search for the defendant, who was quickly located nearby and taken into custody without incident, according to the police spokesman.

Lewis had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

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