Teresa Wilson was born on April 26, 1969, in Danville, Virginia. She grew up in a poor family, with both of her parents working in a textile mill. Teresa enjoyed singing and often sang in church during her childhood. At the age of 16, she dropped out of school and married a man she met at her church. They had one daughter, Christie Lynn Bean. However, their marriage did not last long, and they divorced. After the divorce, Teresa began to struggle with alcohol and painkiller addiction. Her mother-in-law, Marie Bean, described Teresa as being "not right."

In the spring of 2000, Teresa started working at the Dan River textile mill, where she met Julian Clifton Lewis Jr., who was her supervisor. Julian was a recent widower and had three children: Jason, Charles, and Kathy. In June 2000, Teresa and her 16-year-old daughter, Christie, moved into Julian's home. Soon after, Teresa and Julian married.

In December 2001, tragedy struck when Julian's older son, Jason, died in a car accident. With Jason's death, Julian received $200,000 from a life insurance policy. He used this money to buy a manufactured home on five acres of land in Pittsylvania County, Virginia.

In August 2002, Julian's younger son, Charles, obtained a $250,000 insurance policy, preparing for his deployment to Iraq with the United States Army Reserve. Charles named his father as the primary beneficiary and Teresa as the secondary beneficiary.

In the fall of 2002, Teresa Lewis began a relationship with Matthew Jessee Shallenberger and Rodney Lamont Fuller. She had met them at a Wal-Mart in Danville. On October 23, she gave them $1,200 to buy guns and ammunition to kill her husband, Julian Lewis, and her stepson, Charles Lewis, for insurance money. Their first attempt to kill Julian failed.

On the night of October 30, Shallenberger and Fuller entered Teresa's trailer through a back door that she had left open. While she waited in the kitchen, Shallenberger shot Julian multiple times while he slept. Fuller went to Charles's bedroom and shot him with a shotgun. When Fuller realized Charles was still alive, he shot him two more times. Teresa did not call for help until 45 minutes later. During this time, she took money from her husband’s wallet and shared $300 with Shallenberger and Fuller when they left.

When the police arrived, Julian was still alive and stated, "My wife knows who done this to me." Initially, Teresa claimed that the murders were committed by intruders. Soon after, she attempted to withdraw $50,000 from her husband's account using a forged check. She later confessed to offering money to have her husband killed and was found to be trying to gain access to their assets even before they were buried. During the trial, Teresa was labeled the mastermind behind the murders.

Teresa was sentenced to death in June 2003. The co-conspirators received life sentences. Her case went through various appeals, but all were denied, including a petition for clemency which was rejected by Governor Bob McDonnell. Despite claims of her mental issues and low IQ, the courts upheld the death sentence.

On September 23, 2010, Teresa Lewis was executed by lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center in Virginia. Her last meal included fried chicken, sweet peas, Dr Pepper, and apple pie. Before her execution, she apologized to her stepdaughter for the crime. Teresa was the first woman executed in Virginia by lethal injection and became the twelfth woman executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. After her execution, her body was cremated.