The “killer killers” who were filmed stomping a Las Vegas boy to death made their first court appearance when they were charged with murder as adults and taken into custody.
Three of the eight teenagers charged in connection with the fatal beating of a student near Rancho High School appeared in court Friday morning.
Dontral Beaver, 16, Gianni Robinson, 17, and Damien Hernandez, 17, made their first court appearance as adults Friday morning.
A fourth suspect, Treavion Randolph, 16, appeared in court later that afternoon.
The remaining four students arrested are under 16 years old and have not been publicly identified. A hearing next month will determine whether they will be charged as adults.
The hearing comes nearly two weeks after the fatal beating of 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis, who died Nov. 7.
Treavion Randolph appeared in Clark County Justice Court on November 17th
Three of the eight teenagers charged in connection with the fatal beating of a student near Rancho High School appeared in court Friday morning
The judge ordered the defendants to continue to be held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center.
They are scheduled to appear in court again on Tuesday.
Daniel Martinez, Randolph’s public defender, told the Las Vegas Review Journal that he expects his client to plead not guilty on Tuesday.
Lewis was attacked by a mob of students and later died in hospital.
Lt. Jason Johansson of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said all of the people involved were students at Rancho High School.
Johansson said that after the beating, which occurred in an alley near the school, a citizen found Lewis lifeless and took him back to school.
Lewis was then taken to UMC, where doctors determined he had suffered “non-survivable head trauma,” Fox 5 Vegas reported.
The dispute centered on a pair of stolen wireless headphones and possibly a vape pen that had been taken from the victim’s friends. According to police, everyone involved agreed to meet in the alley to fight.
According to a GoFundMe page set up by his family, he was allegedly targeted after he stood up for a minor friend who had just been robbed by the mob.
The 17-year-old was an aspiring artist and a devoted older brother
Lewis created a GoFundMe page titled “Heart of a Champion Our Son” where he posted a photo of himself holding his son’s hand in the hospital the day he died
He described his son as “brave” and said he wanted to donate his organs to save others
Police officers found him around 2:05 p.m. that day, bleeding from the head.
The teenager was placed on life support at University Hospital, where he died on Tuesday after doctors made several attempts to save his life.
“I can only hope that there is a way to find forgiveness in their hearts and find a way to come to terms with what they did,” the boy’s father, also named Jonathan Lewis, said of his attackers son.
Speaking to 8NewsNow, Lewis said his son is normally reserved and had planned to move to Austin, Texas, to be with his father.
The teenager was living with his mother in Las Vegas at the time of his death.
“Violence just breeds more violence and half the time these kids don’t even know what they’re doing,” Lewis said.
After the teenager’s death, a video circulated on social media showing the moment a fight broke out.
It shows a group of about a dozen teenagers kicking the 17-year-old as he lay curled up on the sidewalk.
At least two teenagers stood nearby and filmed the attack on their cell phones.
Johansson described the viral video showing the beating as “inhumane.” Lewis’ father said he “couldn’t watch” the clip.
A frightening video posted on social media showed a group of youths standing over Jonathan’s body and kicking him as he lay on the sidewalk
The attack occurred on the afternoon of November 1st near Rancho High School. Police discovered that Jonathan was bleeding from his head
Speaking to a local news outlet, Lewis said he hoped his son’s death would spark discussion about the epidemic of youth violence in Las Vegas
Lewis claimed his son stood up for a “smaller friend” who had something stolen by the group and then thrown into a trash can.
He described his son as “brave” and said he wanted to donate his organs to save others.
The heartbroken father added: “I think humanity as a whole just hasn’t realized that we need to teach our youth how to live together.”
Lewis created a GoFundMe page titled “Heart of a Champion Our Son” where he posted a photo of himself holding his son’s hand in the hospital the day he died.
“He will always be loved like his father, I will carry him in my heart forever, shine even brighter, love even more and work all my life to bring peace to this world,” Lewis wrote.
The 17-year-old was an aspiring artist and a devoted older brother.
“Although our hearts are broken and this tragedy is absolutely absurd madness, we want to focus on our son’s legacy,” Lewis wrote.
“Jonathan was a loving, generous, kind, fierce young man who loved community and cared about others.”