LAS VEGAS � Four high school students in Las Vegas were indicted Friday as
adults on second-degree murder charges in the deadly beating of their
schoolmate in November, a fight that was captured on cellphone video and
had been widely shared across social media.

Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani said in court that the
indictment also charges the teenagers with conspiracy to commit battery, a
gross misdemeanor.

The Associated Press is not naming the students because they were
juveniles at the time of the Nov. 1 beating.

Nine students have so far been arrested in connection with the attack that
left 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis Jr. dead. Giordani said the other students
are awaiting separate hearings.

According to Las Vegas police, 10 students between the ages of 13 and 17
participated in the beating that unfolded after school in an alleyway just
around the corner from Rancho High School. The police department said
Friday that investigators are still searching for the 10th suspect.

In the aftermath, students, teachers and staff were left to grapple with
how a conflict over a stolen vape pen and a pair of wireless headphones
escalated.

Police said that Lewis walked to the alley with his friend after school
but don�t believe he was the target.

Lt. Jason Johansson said the cellphone video showed Lewis taking off his
shirt to prepare for the fight, then the 10 students �immediately swarm
him, pull him to the ground and begin kicking, punching and stomping on
him.�

After the fight, according to Johannson, a person in the area found Lewis
badly beaten and unconscious and carried him back to campus, where school
staff called 911 and tried to help him.

In Nevada, a teenager facing a murder charge can be charged as an adult if
they were 13 or older at the time of the alleged crime.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/01/20/las-vegas-students-
indicted-murder-charges/72296114007/