Trial date set for 4 in Rancho High fatal beating
A Las Vegas judge has set a trial date for four teenagers facing charges as adults in the fatal beating of a Rancho High School student.
Damien Hernandez, 18, Dontral Beaver, 16, Gianni Robinson, 17, and Treavion Randolph, 16, were in court Thursday, more than a month after they were indicted on charges of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit battery.
They are four of nine teenagers who have been arrested in connection with the killing of 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis, who police said was attacked near Rancho High School in November.
District Judge Tierra Jones scheduled a trial for the four teenagers to start on April 1.
The co-defendants are due back in court on March 7 for attorneys to argue petitions challenging the murder and conspiracy charges. Attorneys for all four teens filed documents last week asking a judge to dismiss the case.
Investigators have said that Lewis was attacked by a group of up to 10 teenagers in an alleyway near the high school. The fatal beating was captured on video that showed the teens stomping, kicking and punching Lewis until he fell unconscious. He died of his injuries six days later.
Surveillance footage and cellphone video showed that Lewis pushed a student, later identified as Robinson by his defense attorney, before the confrontation began. Video then showed that Lewis took off his sweatshirt and punched another student before he was swarmed by the group of teenagers.
In an interview with police, Robinson said he was previously confronted by Lewis for stealing a “wax pen or a marijuana vape,” although he denied taking the items, according to testimony from a grand jury hearing.
Defense attorneys have argued that not all of the students bore the same culpability for Lewis’ death and that prosecutors did not provide sufficient evidence to prove the murder or conspiracy charges.
Four other juveniles who were arrested have admitted to voluntary manslaughter in juvenile court and agreed to a sentence of detainment in a juvenile correctional facility. The case for a fifth teenager remains in the juvenile court system, pending a mental health evaluation.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.
