LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: A GoFundMe organized by Jonathan Lewis’ family has crossed its $25,000 goal as the 17-year-old Las Vegas high school student died after he was beaten by a group of 15 youths near Rancho High School in Las Vegas.
On Tuesday, November 7, the teenager succumbed to the injuries that he had sustained from the incident that took place on November 1.
After police officers found him bleeding from the head at around 2.05 pm that day, Lewis was taken to the University Medical Center, where he was placed on life support.
The teenager’s father, also named Jonathan Lewis, told 8NewsNow that his son was targeted after he stood up for a "smaller friend" who had been the victim of group theft and had been tossed into a garbage bin.
"All I can do is hope there’s a way that can find forgiveness in their [attackers] heart and find a way to be able to come to terms with what they’ve done," said the father about his son's attackers.
Has there been any arrests in connection with Jonathan Lewis' death?
Although a homicide investigation has been opened by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police concerning Jonathan Lewis' death, any arrests are yet to be made.
Nevertheless, his father claimed that investigators told the family that they planned to charge several students involved with the murder.
After Lewis died, a video emerged showing the teenager being kicked by a group of about fifteen bullies while he was lay curled up on the pavement. At least two teens stood nearby, filming the attack on their cellphones.
"Violence just begets more violence and these children don’t even know what they’re doing half the time," expressed the grieving father.
He further revealed that Lewis was an aspiring artist and was living with his mother in Las Vegas. However, he was planning to move to live with his father in Austin.
The father described his son as "courageous" and said he wanted to donate his organs in order to help others. He added, "I think there’s just a failure of all of humanity to recognize that we need to be teaching our youth how to coexist."
Jonathan Lewis described as a ' fierce protector of loved ones' in the GoFundMe campaign
Following Jonathan Lewis’ death, a GoFundMe was organized to help his family cover the funeral and medical costs. The page titled 'Heart of a Champion Our Son' has already raised $40,563 out of the $25,000 goal.
In the fundraiser, the heartbroken father described his son as a "devoted big brother, and a fierce protector of loved ones."
"He will always be so loved as his dad I'll forever hold him in my heart, shine even brighter, love even more, and work all my life to bring peace into this world," read the campaign's description.
The father also thwarted the online reports suggesting that his son was a victim of a racist attack, writing, "The human RACE is screaming for us to see our unity calling us to break the cycle of the imprisonment of violence and apathy."
He continued, "Showing us how it comes through in the youth. This is a humanity thing beloved by the people of the United States. Not a race thing!"
