A ninth juvenile suspect was arrested in the fatal beating of a 17-year-old boy whose family said he was defending someone being bullied outside a Las Vegas high school as detectives sought help to identify an additional “person of interest” in the case.
The juvenile was arrested and booked into the Clark County Juvenile Hall for open murder, police said in a news release. Officers did not give a name.
The individual being sought was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and khaki pants, they said.
Earlier this month, Law&Crime reported eight teenagers — ages 13 to 17 — had been arrested and charged with murder in the death of Jonathan Lewis, whose vicious beating by a mob of students on Nov. 1 was captured on video that an officer called extremely disturbing.
Police said most of the teens who appear to be involved in Lewis’ beating are Black, and Lewis was white, but there was no evidence a hate crime occurred.
“One thing I can assure you is if this was a hate crime, there would be someone getting arrested for charges related to it being a hate crime,” Lt. Jason Johansson said. “Right now, I have no evidence at all that this is a hate crime. It is a murder, which, in my opinion, is in and of itself a very heinous crime, but I do not have evidence of a hate crime.”
Left: Jonathan Lewis, 17. Lewis was killed after a mob of teenagers attacked him, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD). Photo courtesy of memorial website for Lewis. Right: LVMPD homicide Lt. Jason Johansson at a press conference on Nov. 14, 2023, announcing that eight teenagers were arrested and charged with Lewis’ murder. (YouTube screengrab KTNV)
Lewis’ unconscious body was found in a back alley near Rancho High School. By Nov. 7, Lewis was declared “medically brain-dead.”
Police said they believed Lewis got into a fight with fellow students over a stolen pair of wireless headphones and possibly a vape pen meant for marijuana. These items belonged not to Lewis, but to a friend, authorities said. When school let out that afternoon, the teen allegedly agreed to meet at a back alley across the street from the high school to fight, officers said.
The boy’s family contends on a website honoring their late son that Lewis stepped in to help “a smaller child who was being bullied.”
In the video, Lewis could be seen removing some of his clothing and taking a swing, police said.
“The minute a punch is thrown, 10 subjects immediately swarm [Lewis] and begin kicking, punching and stomping on him,” Johannsson said.
Lewis eventually crumples “on the ground [and is] not defending himself until the point he becomes unconscious,” he added.
Police said Lewis was found in the alley and then carried back to the high school before he was given CPR and taken to a hospital, where he died several days later.
Officials representing the Clark County School Police District acknowledged that the alley is a hot spot for student fighting. The day Lewis was beaten, police said two campus security officers were patrolling the campus but were not in the area near the alley.
Law&Crime’s Brandi Buchman contributed to this report.
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