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Rancho High School Assault Suspects Confess to Manslaughter; Victim’s Mother Contests | Murders
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Rancho High School Assault Suspects Confess to Manslaughter; Victim’s Mother Contests | Murders

Four teenagers pleaded guilty Tuesday to involvement in the fatal beating of a 17-year-old Rancho High School student.

Treavion Randolph, 17, Dontral Beaver, 17, Damien Hernandez, 18, and Gianni Robinson, 17, were previously charged with second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit assault. They were being tried in adult court for the death of Jonathan Lewis.

Lewis was attacked outside the school on November 1 by a group of teenagers, who kicked, punched and punched him until he was knocked unconscious.

The four suspects were referred to the juvenile court, where they agreed to a confession of manslaughter last month.

Mellisa Ready, Lewis’ mother, had previously objected to the settlement and did so again after Tuesday’s hearings.

“There is literally no one being held accountable for the murder of my son, with any real punishment,” she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s disgusting.”

Each defendant entered a plea to manslaughter before Juvenile Court Judge Linda Marquis. The deal required all four to do so.

Hernandez appeared in court out of custody. Chief Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Adams requested that Marquis take him into custody.

“This is a very serious case,” Adams said.

Defense attorney Louis Schneider objected, saying Hernandez attended all court hearings and cooperated.

But Marquis agreed to Adams’ request.

“He is a danger to the community,” she said.

The four risk an indefinite prison sentence in a juvenile detention center.

Children found guilty in the juvenile justice system do not receive a fixed sentence but are released after completing a rehabilitation program while in custody, Brigid Duffy, director of the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office’s Juvenile Division, previously said.

Schneider said the sentence is normally six months. Juvenile defendants can be held until they are 21, he said, but such a long period of detention is unlikely.

Marquis last month refused to grant the defendants’ requests, citing jurisdictional concerns.

Attorney Robert Draskovich, who represents Robinson, said at the time that the judge wanted the case dismissed in district court. She also wanted the plea agreement to specify that the case be dismissed in district court and refiled in juvenile court, he said.

“It was a very fair resolution,” he said Tuesday after the trial.

Contact Noble Brigham at [email protected]. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.