Rio Yamat / AP
A makeshift memorial for a high school student lines a fence along an alleyway near Rancho High School in eastern Las Vegas on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. Authorities arrested eight teens Tuesday in connection with the beating of Jonathan Lewis Jr., who died a week after a prearranged fight over a pair of headphones and a vape pen.
Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 | 12:10 p.m.
Four teens being prosecuted as adults in the fatal beating of a Rancho High School student were arraigned today on second-degree murder charges.
Dontral Beaver, 16, Damien Hernandez, 17, Treavion Randolph, 16, and Gianni Robinson, 17, told Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Nadia Wood they received copies of the criminal complaint charging each of them with one count of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit battery resulting in substantial bodily harm. They also said they understood the charges.
Beyond that, they said nothing during the brief hearing.
They remain jailed without bail for allegedly being part of a mob that punched, kicked and stomped 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis in an alley across from Rancho after school on Nov. 1.
Lewis died on Nov. 7 in the hospital from blunt force trauma. Police said it was apparent early on that he had suffered “nonsurvivable head trauma.”
Wood agreed to return the four teens to the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center from the adult jail, although they will continue to be prosecuted as adults, as Nevada law requires for 16- and 17-year-olds accused of murder.
District Attorney Steve Wolfson, who was in the courtroom, said the young defendants were sent back to juvenile detention for their safety.
He said prosecutors filed second-degree murder charges because the evidence did not support charging them with murder in the first degree.
“First-degree murder requires premeditation, an advanced decision to kill. I reviewed all of the evidence yesterday with my colleagues, with the Metropolitan Police Department detectives, and we didn't feel that there was that advanced premediation,” he said.
Under Nevada law, a conviction for second-degree murder carries a prison sentence of 10 to 25 years or 10 years to life. In either instance, inmates become eligible for parole after serving 10 years.
Beaver, Hernandez, Randolph and Robinson were among eight boys between the ages of 13 and 17 who were arrested on Nov. 14, initially accused of open murder, in connection with Lewis’ death.
The other four are 15 or younger and face hearings at a later date to determine if they will also be prosecuted as adults.
Additionally, Metro homicide investigators said they were seeking two more young men in connection with the crime captured on bystander videos.
Wolfson said today that another youth was arrested recently in connection with the case and was in the juvenile system. He provided no additional details.
A Metro spokesperson did not immediately return a message.
Police said last week that the beating started as a fight over stolen headphones and possibly a vape pen and swiftly turned into a mob of about 10 students swarming Lewis while he was on the ground.
Viral video of the incident shows the crowd punching, kicking and stomping the barely visible victim, who was crumpled against a fence not defending himself.
A neighbor carried the unconscious boy to Rancho, where school staff attempted life-saving measures before medics took him to University Medical Center, authorities said.
Robinson’s lawyer Robert Draskovich said he was told “the videos that have been released are incomplete.”
“I’ll be going through all the videos with my investigator to see what really happened,” he said.
Wolfson said today was a sad day.
“Somebody lost their life. That family was shattered and then all the other families and their lives have been shattered as well,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, I believe there have to be consequences,” Wolfson said. “People make choices. Based upon their choices, there needs to be consequence and punishment.”
Beaver, Hernandez, Randolph and Robinson are due back in court on Dec. 14.
