Jonathan Lewis's distraught dad 'can't watch' disturbing video of teen 'being beaten to death by mob

May 2024 · 4 minute read

THE father of a teen beaten to death by a mob of boys has revealed he can't watch the harrowing footage of his son's killing.

Jonathan Lewis Jr died from his injuries last week, six days after the 17-year-old was attacked close to his high school in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Eight teenagers have now been charged with murder over the fatal attack, which was allegedly sparked by an argument over stolen wireless headphones.

A disturbing video shared widely online purported to show the sickening attack on Lewis Jr near Rancho High School in the middle of the day on November 1.

Lewis Jr had reportedly gone to confront the group after they attacked a friend of his.

A devastating final message Lewis sent to his dad before his death was shared this week.

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In the shocking clip, a mob of teens can be seen stomping on another young individual who is on the ground before running off.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) hasn't yet confirmed that the video is of Lewis Jr, but the teen's father has said that the clip shows his son.

Jonathan Lewis Sr spoke out after the horrifying footage went viral, telling local media that he couldn't bear to watch it.

"I can't watch the video of my son beaten to death, no," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday.

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He claimed that the mob of bullies had been involved in other similar attacks before allegedly killing his son.

"This is not a one-off, no," he said. "We know that there was another incident the Tuesday before that with these exact kids."

Lewis Sr also condemned some of the response online to his son's death, which has descended into racism.

Most of the alleged attackers are black, while Lewis is white, and his father has slammed some of the racial comments on social media.

Speaking from his home in Austin, Texas, he said of the remarks: "Yes I think it's a disgrace to my son's memory and completely condemn it."

In a separate interview with NewsNation, he said that there are "other videos that have not been released to the public" showing the run-up to the attack.

After Lewis Jr shook off several of the attackers, his father said: "All the other kids joined in and beat him to death after that."

Lt Jason Johansson from the LVMPD said that Lewis was found unresponsive in an alleyway by a citizen after the beating and took him back to school.

They had agreed to meet in the alley for the fight beforehand, he said, adding that all eight suspects will be charged as adults.

Lewis was rushed to the hospital where doctors determined he had suffered "non-survivable head trauma."

The LVMPD is due to release pictures of two other individuals who allegedly participated in the fatal attack.

Lt Johansson also called for anyone with footage of the deadly fight to come forward.

"There's a high likelihood that there's additional video out there that we don't have," he said, as he urged parents to talk to their kids about what happened.

The Clark County School District (CCSD), which includes Rancho High School, also issued a statement this week in response to Lewis' death.

It said: "All of CCSD grieves the loss of every student.

"While we can not provide additional information, as this is an active police investigation, please know that District leadership and School Police are working with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the District Attorney’s office so those involved are held accountable for their actions.

"LVMPD is the lead investigative agency.

"CCSD does not tolerate violence or threats to students or their safety.

"We all must come together as a community to address the needs of our students so disagreements are resolved through dialogue rather than violence."

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A GoFundMe page originally set up to raise money for Lewis' medical costs and a foundation in his name has raised more than $100,000 after setting a target of $25,000.

The page quotes Lewis' girlfriend as saying that "one of his smaller friends had something stolen by this group of 15 and they threw the small boy in the trash can and our son confronted them and he was attacked by them."

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