Published Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023 | 4:54 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023 | 8:01 p.m.
Eight teenagers have been arrested and charged in the murder of Rancho High School student Jonathan Lewis, who died after being beaten just off campus earlier this month.
Police apprehended the suspects, ages 13-17, today after a lengthy investigation, including reviewing video of the beating that has gone viral after being shared on social media, Metro Lt. Jason Johansson said. The suspects, whose names weren’t given because of their age, were booked into the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center.
Police are additionally seeking two more suspects who they believe were part of the mob that beat Lewis, 17, in an alley just off campus after school on Nov. 1.
The investigation is far from over, he said. He said it took police 13 days to announce an arrest because “when you arrest someone for the charge of murder, you have to be positively right.”
The video showed the suspect “kicking, stomping and punching the victim with our victim Jonathan on the ground not defending himself; on the ground unconscious,” Johansson said.
“It is very graphic, and in my opinion is very void of humanity,” he said.
Johansson added normal steps in the legal process would be followed to potentially try some of the suspects as adults.
Lewis was taken off life support Nov. 7, his father said in a post on a fundraising site. The cause of death was blunt force trauma, Johansson said.
One of Lewis’ friends was in an argument with another student over stolen earphones and a vape pen, police said. They agreed to fight in an alley near campus — between homes on 21st and 22nd streets, across the street just east of Rancho.
Lewis showed up to take the place of his friend. One of the suspects hit Lewis, and the others quickly jumped in, Johansson said.
A neighbor carried Lewis back to the school, where staff attempted live-saving measures before medics took the boy to University Medical Center, police said.
However, “very early on the investigation it was determined that Mr. Lewis had sustained nonsurvivable head trauma,” Johansson said.
“Although our hearts are broken and this tragedy is absolutely absurd madness, we want to focus on the legacy of our son,” his father, who is also named Jonathan Lewis, wrote on a GoFundMe page. “Jonathan was a loving, giving, kind, fierce young man who loved community and caring for others.”
Police urged families to use this incident as a teaching moment with their children.
“The (video) is extremely distributing,” Undersheriff Andrew Walsh said. “It’s a reminder to have difficult conversations with your children to remind them their actions have lasting consequences.”
Johansson said there’s a chance that there are more videos that investigators haven’t yet seen. He encouraged anyone with footage to alert Metro’s homicide unit or Crimestoppers.
