On November 1, 2023, Jonathan Edward Lewis Jr., a 17-year-old student at

Rancho High School Rancho High School is a zoned, and magnet high school in North Las Vegas, Nevada. It is part of the Clark County School District. Opened in 1953, Rancho High School was the third public high school founded in the Las Vegas Valley, after Las Vegas ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, U.S., was attacked by a mob of students at the school. Lewis had been standing up for a friend who was bullied by the students. He succumbed to injuries from the assault on November 7, 2023.

Background

Jonathan Lewis Jr. was described by his father as "a loving, giving, kind, fierce young man who loved community and caring for others." He aspired to become an artist, being interested in drawing, photography and painting and a connoisseur in music, especially hip hop. He was also considering joining the military, like his grandfather who served in the U.S. Navy. At the time of his death, Lewis lived with his mother and had plans to move to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

with his father.

Incident

The incident that led to the death of Jonathan Lewis reportedly began when earlier in the week, a group of bullies stole a pair of wireless headphones and possibly a marijuana vape pen from a student, who was a friend of Lewis and smaller than him, and threw him into a trash can. Following that, the students agreed to meet in a back alley around a corner from campus to fight, which happened after classes on Wednesday, November 1, 2023. Initially, Jonathan was not planned to be involved in the altercation but accompanied his friend to the alleyway where the incident took place. They faced a mob of approximately 15 students. A video of the brawl shows Lewis taking off his shirt to prepare for the fight, before being swarmed, pushed against a fence and forced onto the ground, where he is punched, kicked and stomped on by 10 individuals. After the assault, Lewis was found badly beaten and unconscious by a person who carried him back to campus, where the school staff called 911. He was taken to the

University Medical Center of Southern Nevada University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMCSN) is a non-profit (teaching) government hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the only government run hospital owned and operated by the Clark County Commission. Overview The hospital was founded i ...

, where he was hospitalized and placed on

life support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform basic ...

. Doctors soon determined he had "nonsurvivable head trauma". Six days later on November 7, Lewis was declared medically brain dead. An autopsy performed by the Clark County coroner's office determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Investigation

Nine juveniles have been taken into custody and are facing murder charges. The suspects range in age from 13 to 17 and are students at Rancho High School. Four of the teenagers, identified as Gianni Robinson, Damien Hernandez, Treavion Randolph and Dontral Beaver, were scheduled to be tried as adults since they were in the age range of 16 to 17. The other teenagers were ordered to be held in juvenile detention center until the certification hearings could be held on December 6, 2023, due to their ages ranging from 13 to 15. The remaining student that participated in the beating is still at large. In January 2024, a 15-year-old pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and will be committed to Child Correctional Services. In February, two more of the defendants under 16, including the 13-year-old, pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter. On August 2, 2024, the District Attorney backtracked and allowed the four older teenagers to plead guilty to manslaughter as juveniles. However, the deal must be unanimous and is contingent on all four of them accepting it. If any of them back out of the deal, they will again be charged in adult court. Lewis' mother has criticized the deal, which she stated she was not notified of, telling

KLAS-TV KLAS-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Channel 8 Drive near the northern portion of the Las Vegas Strip in the u ...

"You cannot jump in a human being's head, stomp on him, and think that they're going to remain alive after. They knew he was going to die, and that's how I feel – and they're letting them get away with murder." She also said "There is no justice for my son Jonathan Lewis, that was stomped to death and murdered while 20 people stood there and did nothing more than film it and broadcast it to social media."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Jonathan 2023 murders in the United States 21st century in Las Vegas Bullying in the United States Child murder in the United States Deaths by beating in the United States Incidents of violence against boys Murder in Nevada Murdered American students November 2023 crimes in the United States School bullying School violence Violence against men in the United States