LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – On Monday, a Clark County juvenile judge refused to accept a plea deal for several Las Vegas teenagers accused of murdering their high school classmate.
Damien Hernandez, Dontral Beaver, Gianni Robinson and Treavion Randolph, all appeared in juvenile court.
The court declined to accept the plea because “the court wanted to ensure that any jurisdictional issues are addressed in the plea,” according to the Clark County District Attorney’s office. These issues revolved around sending the criminal case from the adult court system to the juvenile system.
On August 1, all four former Rancho High School students accepted a deal with the district attorney’s office that allowed them to plead guilty as juveniles to voluntary manslaughter.
The four teenagers were part of nine students arrested last November on charges of killing Jonathan Lewis, 17, outside Rancho High School. They were formally charged with murder in January.
‘No justice for my son’, mother criticizes deal for teenagers
Lewis’ mother Mellisa Ready previously criticized the settlement, claiming she was not informed of the deal.
“I would totally disagree with the deal. They should be responsible as adults – they made an adult choice,” she said. “They knew it when they stomped on my child’s head. That he would die as a result.”
The District Attorney’s Office defended the appeal says:
“While the District Attorney’s Office acknowledges the pain the victim’s mother is going through as she grieves the loss of her son, the hearing was properly relayed to her last week, prior to trial. The conversation was witnessed by several DA personnel.”
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