Father calls for justice after beating death of Las Vegas teen
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - A heartbroken father is sharing his outrage. In a one-on-one interview with FOX5, the dad of Jonathan Lewis, a Rancho High School student beaten to death allegedly by his own classmates explained what his family is now going through and the justice they are seeking as no arrests have been reported so far.
Jonathan Lewis gave his name to his son never imagining he would outlive him but the teenager’s life was cut short after a normal day at school earlier this month. Lewis has seen viral video circulating online of the brutal attack that took his son’s life.
“I saw a couple seconds of this video on accident…and it’s just like lunacy. I can’t imagine how it even comes to this,” Lewis stated. Lewis says his family is still in shock still trying to process 17-year-old Jonathan, an aspiring artist with a huge heart, is gone.
“Jonathan was an incredibly loving and caring young man…I was just looking through my text messages with him last couple days before and I am so grateful I got to tell him I love him,” Lewis revealed. Lewis contends his son died a hero. Standing up for a smaller student at Rancho High School in a fight over AirPods, a group of 15 students turned on him. Jonathan was left fighting for his life.
“Jonathan’s mother and I just sat there and held our son’s hand just hoping and praying that he could recover,” Lewis recounted. Days after the brutal attack Jonathan died at UMC. His father was by his side before he was taken off life support.
“I was shaking for hours. I could barely even walk, could barely even get to my car,” Lewis confessed. Police have told the father there may be a resolution in his son’s case soon, but he says it will take much more than arrests to heal his broken heart.
“Justice for me is a deep, deep thing and is much more than just these kids going to prison. Justice to me is what is the community going to do about this? When are people going to wake up and start having some compassion for one another and have empathy? And actually, have a sense of community and work toward solutions for these children that are going absolutely mad,” Lewis questioned.
Monday, the Clark County School District sent FOX5 this statement:
“All of CCSD grieves the loss of every student. While we cannot provide additional information, as this is an active police investigation, please know that District leadership and School Police are working with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the District Attorney’s office so those involved are held accountable for their actions. LVMPD is the lead investigative agency. CCSD does not tolerate violence or threats to students or their safety. We all must come together as a community to address the needs of our students so disagreements are resolved through dialogue rather than violence.”
Jonathan’s family has a GoFundMe account to help with his final expenses: Jonathan’s GoFundMe
Stay with FOX5 as we continue to follow the investigation.
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