Las Vegas student died after high school brawl over headphones and vape pen, policy say
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 17-year-old high school student in Las Vegas who authorities said accompanied a friend to a prearranged fight over a pair of headphones and a vape pen was killed when 10 students between the ages of 13 and 17 beat him in an alleyway around the corner from campus.
The victim’s father, Jonathan Lewis Sr., said his son was attacked while standing up “for one of his smaller friends,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Eight of the 10 teenagers were arrested Tuesday by Las Vegas police and the FBI on suspicion of murder in the Nov. 1 beating and death a week later of their classmate, Jonathan Lewis Jr. Two more students who have yet to be identified also face murder charges, said Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson.
The students were not immediately identified because they are under 18. Johansson said Tuesday that Las Vegas police are consulting with the local district attorney’s office to determine if they will be charged as adults.
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Johansson said the victim remained hospitalized with severe “head trauma” and other injuries for a week until his death. The coroner’s office in Las Vegas ruled the beating a homicide.
The fight, Johansson said, had been prearranged after the headphones and vape pen were stolen from the victim’s friend.
Johansson said investigators believe that Jonathan Lewis Jr. originally wasn’t supposed to be involved in the fight but went with his friend to the alley where the brawl was scheduled after classes ended for the day at Rancho High School in eastern Las Vegas.
In the alley, the 10 students “immediately swarm him, pull him to the ground and begin kicking, punching and stomping on him,” Johansson said.
After the fight, he said a “citizen” in the area found the victim badly beaten and unconscious in the alleyway and carried him back to campus, where school staff called 911.
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