Four teenagers charged with murder in the fatal beating of a boy outside a Las Vegas high school last November have agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors that will avoid them serving time in adult prison.The mother of the victim of the fatal assault is outraged by the plea deal.
Dontral Beaver, 16, Trevion Randolph, 16, Gianni Robinson, 17, and Damien Hernandez, 18, agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter Thursday in the death of 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis Jr. KLAS-TV.
“My son, Jonathan Lewis, was trampled and murdered by 20 people just standing there, filming it and broadcasting it on social media. He has not been given justice.”
The plea agreement means the four boys will not be charged with murder as adults and will be sentenced in juvenile court. The plea agreement allows them to avoid incarceration in adult prisons.
The suspects, all of whom were under 18 at the time of the crimes, were formally charged with second-degree murder in January.
Five other juveniles have also been charged in the case, four of whom have already pleaded guilty to manslaughter in juvenile court; one has yet to be sentenced.
The victim’s mother said she was surprised by the plea agreement and claimed she was not notified of the hearing, which was held Thursday.
“They pleaded guilty to murder and were told the maximum sentence for adults was two years,” Melissa Reddy said. KLAS-TV.
“I would have been totally against the deal. They are adults and should be held responsible. They made an adult choice,” Reddy continued. “When they stomped on my child’s head, they knew that it would result in his death. You can’t jump into a human’s head and stomp on it and expect it to continue to live after that.”
“They knew he was going to die, that’s how I feel, and they got away with murder,” Reddy said.
The distraught mother added: “There will be no justice for my son Jonathan Lewis who was trampled and murdered by 20 people just standing there and filming it and posting it on social media.”
Gianni Robinson’s attorney, Robert Draskovich, told KLAS-TV, “We have evaluated all of the evidence comprehensively and have been able to come to this mutually beneficial negotiation. Obviously, what happened is a tragedy, but convicting these young people of murder would be a second tragedy on the heels of the first.”
As previously reported by The Blaze News, Lewis was brutally attacked by a group of teenagers outside Rancho High School in Las Vegas on November 1, 2023. Video of the vicious attack was posted to social media and shows the group of teenagers kicking, stomping and punching Lewis.
Las Vegas Police Department officers responded to a call of an assault and found Lewis beaten and bleeding from the head. The boy was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. Six days later, doctors pronounced Lewis brain dead. The boy died from his injuries. The cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma and ruled a homicide.
Las Vegas Police Lt. Jason Johanson previously said investigators believe the fight began over the theft of wireless headphones and “possibly” a vape pen from Lewis or a friend.
At the time of the attack, Johansson described the deadly attack as “profoundly inhumane.”
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