OAN Staff Taylor Tinsley
9:37 AM – Thursday, April 17, 2025
The parents of a Las Vegas teen who was filmed being fatally beaten outside of his high school continue seeking justice.
Back in November of 2023, 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis was severely beaten by a group of teen bullies outside of Rancho High School after he stepped in to help a friend.
Lewis died just a few days later after suffering severe head trauma and other injuries from the attack.
Flash forward to August of 2024, four of the teens charged in connection with Lewis’s killing – Dontral Beaver, 17, Treavion Randolph, 17, Gianni Robinson, 17, and Damian Hernandez, 18,– were offered a deal allowing all to plead guilty to manslaughter as juveniles.
Sam & Ash Injury Law partner Sam Mirejovsky, who is representing Lewis’s father, said the teen’s death could have absolutely been prevented and explained how it was a direct consequence of school restorative justice policies.
“We saw it happening here in real time in Vegas but it’s happening across the country,” Mirejovsky said. “The same mentality that we have with criminality and with our criminal justice system and going easy on criminals is also taking place in schools.”
Restorative justice is defined as a system that “focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large.”
Nevada passed AB168 in 2019, making it practically impossible to suspend or expel students for certain violent acts.
Instead, it required schools to come up with a plan of action based on restorative justice.
That law was repealed in 2023, but Mirejovsky insinuated the damage was already done.
He said Lewis’s attackers were bad seeds, noting they had behavioral issues and a record at the school.
“I think the mistaken belief that there are kids out there who have gotten a less than fair shake in life and they don’t deserve to be singled out and punished for their background… the exact opposite is true,” Mirejovsky said. “If you’re coming from a broken home, if you have disadvantages, if you’re coming into the school with behavioral problems, whether it’s your fault or not, the school system ought to turn you into a respectable adult.”
Mirejovsky pointed out there’s a disservice on both sides and the attackers’ lives may have turned out different, had they been told that their actions have consequences.
He also shed light on how restorative justice leaves a teacher’s hands tied and prevents them from doing the job they’re hired to do.
Lewis’s mother recently filed a lawsuit against the Clark County School District – who owns the property where Lewis was severely beaten – for wrongful death and negligence.
Mirejovsky said his father is filing a separate civil suit.
“We believe that there was not adequate supervision on this campus, there were prior instances of kids getting violent, the school knew about it and could’ve prevented this including managing some of these students before this incident occurred.”
Restorative practices have been adopted by schools throughout the nation, mostly in California.
Mirejovsky said while he was taught to stand up for himself growing up, he’s teaching his kids to avoid confrontation.
“The conversations I’m having with my kids is de-escalation, walk away. It’s not worth it. You can’t rely on society honestly these days protecting you and the fact is Jonathan, it’s praiseworthy that he stood up for a fellow student it really is, it cost him his life.”
Mirejovsky said while the nation does have declining test scores, it’s an issue that outshines the bigger foundational problem that classrooms are not safe.