4 teens arrested in fatal high school beating to be tried as adults

A judge ordered four teenagers sent to the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday to be tried as adults after they were arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal group beating of a 17-year-old Rancho High School student.

The Metropolitan Police Department announced Tuesday that eight teenagers were arrested in connection with the killing of Jonathan Lewis Jr.

Gianni Robinson, Damien Hernandez, Treavion Randolph and Dontral Beaver — the four teens whose cases were all automatically transferred to the adult court system on Wednesday — are all 16 or 17 years old, according to an official with the district attorney’s office. Because the other teenagers are younger than 16, ranging in age from 13 to 15, they must face certification hearings in Family Court so a judge can determine if they will be tried as adults.

Lewis was killed in a fatal beating that happened off of Rancho High School’s campus on Nov. 1. The attack was captured on a video that Metro Lt. Jason Johansson has described as “very graphic” and “very void of humanity.”

The video showed about 10 people kicking, stomping and punching Lewis until he’s unconscious. Police announced Tuesday that investigators are still searching for two potential suspects, and asked anyone with information to contact Metro detectives.

The four teenagers who were not automatically sent to the adult system were ordered to be held in Juvenile Detention Center until the certification hearings can be held on Dec. 6.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson attended the teenagers’ detention hearings on Wednesday in Family Court, along with multiple members of the suspects’ families. On Tuesday, Wolfson told the Review-Journal that the teens could face “varying degrees of culpability,” and that his office will have to review the case’s evidence to determine if all of them will formally be charged with murder.

“At the end of the day, a young man was brutally murdered, and I believe that some of these juveniles will be held responsible,” Wolfson said Tuesday.

Police have said a group of teens set up the fight after school after a pair of wireless headphones and possibly a marijuana vape pen were taken from either Lewis or his friends earlier in the week. The video shows Lewis taking off clothing to prepare for the fight, and then 10 others swarming him after a punch was thrown, Johansson said Tuesday during a news conference.

The four teens who are expected to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court are set to be transferred to the adult county detention center, but they did not immediately appear in jail records Wednesday.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.