Four teens who are accused of killing a classmate in Las Vegas last year have agreed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter. This means they will not be tried as adults, their lawyers revealed Thursday.
There was a fight on November 1 with a lot of people near Rancho High School. Jonathan Lewis, 17, was seriously hurt and later died. Nine students were arrested in connection with the fight.
Robert Draskovich, the lawyer for one of the four teens charged in the beating, said that his client agreed to plead guilty as part of a deal that would fall apart if any of the other suspects changed their pleas.
Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani said that all four would be charged again in adult court if any of them broke the deal.
Teens in Nevada who are charged with murder can be charged as adults if they were 13 or older at the time of the crime. At first, the teens were charged as adults with second-degree murder and plotting to kill someone.
“It’s a tragedy all around,” said Draskovich, whose client is now 18 years old but was a child when the accident happened.
Draskovich said that the plea is the same as a civil conviction and that the suspects’ records will be cleared when they turn 21.
One person hit someone in a video that NBC News looked at. Then a bunch of teens rushed that person. Police said that the fight started over stolen headphones and maybe a stolen vape pen for weed.
Lewis was hit so hard that he passed away less than a week later.
In a tribute to his son, Lewis’s dad called him a “hero.” He said that his son died protecting a friend who was being picked on.
NBC station KSNV in Las Vegas reported Thursday that Lewis’ mother, Mellisa Ready, was “dumbfounded” and “in shock” by the plea deal. She said that the Clark County district attorney’s office had told her that the teens were going to plead guilty to murder in adult court.
