Four Las Vegas teens accused of beating a 17-year-old to death have asked a judge to dismiss their murder charges, despite the attack being caught on camera.
The suspect, Dontral Beaver, 16; Damien Hernandez, 17; Treavion Randolph, 16; and Gianni Robinson, 17, have been charged and pleaded not guilty to the murder of Jonathan Lewis.
The foursome and their attorneys appeared before Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones yesterday and argued there is insufficient evidence to support their charges.
Multiple videos from the day of the attack show a group of teenagers punching, kicking and stomping Lewis to the point of unconsciousness, resulting in his death a week later.
Imagery obtained by 8 News Now also showed Lewis being taken to safety at the high school by a student and neighbor after the brutal attack.
Another video shows Lewis being trampled by the group as he tries to defend himself from the attack, before being knocked unconscious.
Jonathan Lewis, 17, died in hospital days after he was viciously attacked by a group of about 15 other teenagers on November 1
Dontral Beaver, 16 (left), and Gianni Robinson, 17, were arrested along with six others accused of attacking Lewis
Damien Hernandez, 17 (left), and Treavion Randolph, 16 (right), have both been charged as adults with murder
The foursome and their attorneys appeared before Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones yesterday and argued there is insufficient evidence to support their charges.
Even though footage has been presented to the court, including surveillance video showing Lewis pushing one student and then punching another before being engulfed, lawyers have argued the incident was not a “coordinated series of attacks.”
Special Public Defender Daniel Martinez, who represents Randolph said during the hearing: ‘The conspiracy requires some kind of agreement, express or implied, or involving a coordinated series of attacks.
“Again, the video is telling. There was nothing coordinated about this at all, Your Honor. It was complete chaos from everyone involved. Everyone acts on their own.”
Karen Connnolly, who also represents Hernandez said: ‘It was not planned, there was no coordinated series of attacks. This was a spontaneous reaction.’
Connnolly explained in her petition before the dismissal: ‘There is no evidence that Damien directly caused Jonathan’s death as director. The detective who attended the autopsy described a very, very serious injury to Jonathan’s brain.
“The video clearly shows youths repeatedly stamping on Jonathan’s head after Damien pulled away. The video doesn’t even show whether Damien actually had contact with Jonathan.’
Randolph (left) is represented by Special Public Defender Daniel Martinez and Hernandez (right) is represented by Karen Connnolly
Beaver (left) is represented by Gabriel Grasso and Robinson (center) is represented by Robert Draskovich. Both appeared in court yesterday along with Randolph
Here, Lewis is trampled by the group as he tries to defend himself from the attack, before being knocked unconscious
Martinez further argued that his client was only involved in the attack for “less than 10 seconds” and that others stomped on Lewis instead.
Beaver’s attorney, Gabriel Grasso, made similar claims against Martinez and told the court that “no evidence was presented (to prove) that Beaver struck any part of Jonathan Lewis’s body, which could later be determined to have resulted in his death.”
Robert Draskovich, Robinson’s attorney, also took the same route, telling Judge Jones that “there is no testimony that any particular kick or punch from Gianni struck any particular part of the victim’s body.”
“For example, there is no testimony that Gianni ever struck the alleged victim’s head or face with kicks or punches.”
But Deputy Chief Counsel Pamela Weckerly pushed back against all four attorneys’ claims, saying a “conspiracy does not have to mean the defendants are communicating with each other.”
But rather, prosecutors must show a “coordinated series of actions.”
‘There is nothing wrong in this case other than inflicting injuries on the victim. That was a coordinated series of acts,” Weckerly said said.
Footage obtained by 8 News Now shows Lewis being escorted back to the high school to safety by a student and neighbor after the brutal attack
Lewis was hospitalized with severe head trauma and other injuries and died a week later
Flowers were left at the scene with a poignant message on one bouquet: ‘You are a hero!!!’
Two of four teens who have pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the November beating death of Las Vegas teen Jonathan Lewis
Grasso and Connnolly filed a petition for the writ of Habeas Corpus yesterday, while Draskovich filed a petition on Wednesday and Martinez filed the petition on Tuesday.
Four other teenagers have already pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, including two juveniles.
The youngest attacker, aged just 13, was also one of four to plead guilty and has been ordered to participate in a gang intervention program and attend a juvenile facility as part of his sentencing.
All four are currently being tried in adult court and Judge Jones said she would make a written decision on the requests, but did not specify a date.
