A Las Vegas teenager reportedly died last week after he was severely beaten by a violent mob of about 15 attackers near a local high school.
Jonathan Lewis Jr., a 17-year-old student of Rancho High School, died on Tuesday at University Medical Center while receiving treatment for injuries he suffered during the attack. His father said his son was hospitalized and put on life support until he eventually passed away due to his injuries.
“We’re all just trying to process this,” Jonathan Lewis Sr. told local media. “The whole family is in shock.”
Lewis, 38, said on a GoFundMe page that, from his understanding, a smaller friend of Lewis Jr. had an item stolen by a group of 15 who then threw the boy in a trash can. When Lewis Jr. confronted the mob, they attacked him.
“A couple (of people) attacked him, and they weren’t able to hurt him enough, and they all attacked him at once,” Lewis told local media.
Video footage of the purported incident circulated on social media this month, which appears to show a large group of students pushing a young male to a fence and severely beating him while the victim lay on the ground.
The teenage boy who was severely beaten by a group of students in Las Vegas, Nevada has DIED of his injuries.
Jonathan Lewis, was beaten by up to 15 boys at his school and was subsequently put on life support in critical condition.
However, he has now passed away- his… pic.twitter.com/teEZiTQIZh
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) November 12, 2023
The incident sent Lewis Jr. to hospital with life-threatening injuries on November 1 after Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers discovered him bleeding from the head.
Fox News reported that the police department’s homicide unit launched an investigation to identify the group of attackers involved in the beating. As of November 10, police have not made any arrests linked to the altercation.
Investigators also told Lewis Jr.’s family they plan on charging several students involved in the attack with murder.
Lewis Sr. said he was disappointed that the attack led to the death of Lewis Jr., saying that “children don’t even know what they’re doing half the time” and that he hopes future conversations surrounding youth violence in the city will include the tragic incident.
He described his son as “a loving, giving, kind, fierce young man who loved community and caring for others.”
“This horrific tragedy is reflective of the divisive, conflict based, uncaring state that our society and humanity is currently facing with how we interact with our community,” he wrote. “Empathy and love are great strength and cowardly violence is pathetic.”
Lewis Jr. reportedly aspired to be an artist interested in drawing, photography, and painting. He considered joining the military to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, who served in the U.S. Navy.