What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?

Fatal Encounters records that Debra Gatewood died on January 5, 2003 in Piscataway, Middlesex County, with "Stabbed" as the highest level of force. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset of deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind; a record is not a finding of fault or misconduct.

Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?

The record's agency field reads "New Jersey Department of Corrections". Presence in that field means the agency appears in the record as reported, nothing more; it is not a claim of fault or responsibility by any officer or agency.

Where did this happen?

The record places the death in Piscataway, Middlesex County, on January 5, 2003. The address as recorded is 209 Hidden Woods Court Piscataway NJ 08854 Middlesex.

Does this record mean police caused or were at fault for this death?

No. Fatal Encounters documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits and crashes, suicides that occurred in police presence, and medical emergencies. This record documents that a death occurred during an encounter; it is not a finding of fault, misconduct, or wrongdoing, and it has no connection to the discipline records elsewhere on this site.

Fatal Encounters record · Independent third-party dataset

Debra Gatewood

January 5, 2003 · Piscataway, Middlesex County

Details as recorded

Every value below is shown exactly as Fatal Encounters recorded it.^[1]

Name as recorded: Debra Gatewood
Age as recorded: 46
Gender as recorded: Female
Race as reported: Race unspecified
Date of the injury resulting in death: January 5, 2003
Location as recorded: Piscataway, Middlesex County209 Hidden Woods Court Piscataway NJ 08854 Middlesex
Highest level of force as recorded: Stabbed

Agencies as recorded

Agency or agencies involved, as recorded: New Jersey Department of Corrections

An agency appears here because it appears in the record's as-reported agency field, nothing more. Its presence is not a claim of fault or responsibility.

Department pages (matched by this site at high confidence)

New Jersey Department of Corrections

The source's account

Fatal Encounters' description of the incident, verbatim. This is the source project's own third-party narrative, not this site's reporting.

State corrections officer Michael Lewis stabbed his girlfriend to death at their home. He got 20 years for the murder.

Source reported by Fatal Encounters: http://www.walb.com/story/1075900/new-jersey-accused-murderer-found-in-hahira (external link, as recorded in the dataset).

If you are a family member of the person named here, or represent one, and something in this record is wrong, or you want the record removed, requests go through the corrections page. Every request is checked against the source record.

This record is one of the dataset's New Jersey entries from 2000 to 2021. Browse every New Jersey Fatal Encounters record by year.

Questions and answers

What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?: Fatal Encounters records that Debra Gatewood died on January 5, 2003 in Piscataway, Middlesex County, with "Stabbed" as the highest level of force. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset of deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind; a record is not a finding of fault or misconduct.
Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?: The record's agency field reads "New Jersey Department of Corrections". Presence in that field means the agency appears in the record as reported, nothing more; it is not a claim of fault or responsibility by any officer or agency.
Where did this happen?: The record places the death in Piscataway, Middlesex County, on January 5, 2003. The address as recorded is 209 Hidden Woods Court Piscataway NJ 08854 Middlesex.
Does this record mean police caused or were at fault for this death?: No. Fatal Encounters documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits and crashes, suicides that occurred in police presence, and medical emergencies. This record documents that a death occurred during an encounter; it is not a finding of fault, misconduct, or wrongdoing, and it has no connection to the discipline records elsewhere on this site.

Sources

[1]Fatal Encounters, New Jersey subset. Fatal Encounters (fatalencounters.org). Row 28703. Derived from the public Fatal Encounters national dataset (coverage 2000-2021; collection ended December 2021), https://fatalencounters.org/. Retrieved July 10, 2026. ↩