Four Las Vegas teenagers accused of killing a 17-year-old have asked a judge to dismiss their murder charges, despite the attack being caught on camera.
The accused, 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, arguing that there is insufficient evidence to support their charges.
Several videos from the day of the attack show a group of teenagers punching, kicking and stomping Lewis into unconsciousness, resulting in his death a week later.
Recordings obtained by 8 News now also showed Lewis being carried to safety by a student and neighbor back to the high school after the violent attack.
Another video shows Lewis being stomped on by the group as he tries to defend himself from the assault before being knocked unconscious.
Jonathan Lewis, 17, died in hospital days after he was brutally attacked by a group of around 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 with murder as adults
The foursome and their attorneys appeared before Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones yesterday, arguing that there is insufficient evidence for their charges
Although footage has been submitted to the court, including surveillance video that showed Lewis pushing one student and then punching another before being swarmed, defense attorneys have argued that the incident was not a “coordinated series of attacks.”
Special Public Defender Daniel Martinez, representing Randolph said at the hearing: ‘The conspiracy requires some form of agreement, whether expressed or implied, or with a coordinated series of attacks.
“Again, the video is very telling. There was nothing coordinated about this at all. Your honor. It was complete chaos from everyone involved. Everyone is acting on their own.’
Karen Connolly, who also represents Hernandez said: ‘It was not planned, there was no coordinated series of attacks. This was a spontaneous reaction.’
Connolly explained in her petition for the dismissal: ‘There is no evidence that Damien directly caused Jonathan’s death as headmaster. The detective who attended the autopsy described very, very severe damage to Jonathan’s brain.
‘The video clearly shows youths repeatedly stomping on Jonathan’s head after Damien retreated. The video doesn’t even show if Damien actually made contact with Jonathan.’
Randolph (left) is represented by special public defender Daniel Martinez and Hernandez (right) is represented by Karen Connolly
Beaver (left) is represented by Gabriel Grasso and Robinson (center) is represented by Robert Draskovich. Both appeared in court yesterday along with Randolph
Lewis is seen here being stomped on by the group as he tries to defend himself from the assault before being knocked unconscious
Martinez further claimed that his client was only involved in the attack for ‘less than 10 seconds’ and instead others were seen stomping on Lewis.
Beaver’s attorney, Gabriel Grasso made similar demands to Martinez and told the court that ‘no evidence was adduced (to prove) that Beaver struck a part of the body of Jonathan Lewis, which could later be determined to have led to his death.’
Robert Draskovich, who is Robinson’s lawyer, also took the same route, telling Judge Jones that ‘there is no evidence that any particular kick or punch by Gianni affected any particular part of the victim’s body.
‘There is no evidence, for example, that Gianni ever struck the alleged victim’s head or face with any kick or punch’.
But Deputy Attorney General Pamela Weckerly argued against all the claims made by all four attorneys, saying a ‘conspiracy need not involve the defendants communicating with each other.’
But rather, prosecutors must show a ‘coordinated series of actions’.
“Nothing happens except to cause harm to the victim in this case. It was a coordinated series of actions,’ Weckerly said.
Footage obtained by 8 News Now shows Lewis being carried to safety by a student and neighbor back to the high school after the violent 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 reading: ‘You are a hero!!!’
Two of the four teenagers who have pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for beating teenager Jonathan Lewis in Las Vegas in November
Grasso and Connolly filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus yesterday, while Draskovich filed Wednesday and Martinez filed the petition Tuesday.
Four other teenagers have already pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, including two juveniles.
The youngest assailant, just 13 years old, was also one of the four who pleaded guilty and has been ordered to participate in a gang intervention program and attend a juvenile facility as part of his sentence.
All four are currently being tried in adult court, and Judge Jones said she would issue a written ruling on the motions, but did not set a date.