When asked point-blank by reporters if he had confessed to the killing of Officer Chuck Cassidy, Lewis responded: "Yes."
Lewis, a high school dropout with a record for drug offenses, said very little afterward.
Dressed in civilian clothes, he looked dazed and fatigued after more than six hours of questioning by detectives who flew to Miami after learning of his arrest in the early morning.
Should Lewis waive extradition today, he could be back in Philadelphia by this evening to face charges in the killing of Cassidy, who was gunned down last Wednesday during a botched robbery of a Dunkin' Donuts in West Oak Lane.
The stunning confession came at the end of a day that began with Lewis' arrest after a staff member at a Miami homeless shelter recognized him as a wanted man.
The staff summoned Miami police, who quickly swooped in and arrested Lewis without a fight, ending a desperate search for the man implicated in a murder that has aroused the passions of a city weary of violent crime.
Within minutes of Lewis' arrest, news flashed north to Philadelphia, and officials scheduled a 9 a.m. news conference.
"In the city of Philadelphia, we do not stand for this kind of violence, nor do we stand for this kind of violence against our police department," Mayor Street said.
"Law enforcement has no boundaries," Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson told reporters. "When a law enforcement officer is killed, it's the entire law enforcement community that suffers."
As a legion of local and federal law enforcement officers sought Cassidy's killer, the shooting - caught on surveillance cameras - gripped the city's attention. One section of the tape shows the killer stoop to take the fallen officer's handgun before dashing away. Contributing to the passions was that Cassidy was the third police officer shot in four days.
Cassidy, 54, a father of three and described as a "gentle giant," will be buried today with full honors.
