SLAIN-TEEN DAD'S GRIEF
Blames Vegas HS, not cops for lack of arrests
The father of the Las Vegas teen who was fatally beaten near his high school while allegedly defending a friend said police are working hard to secure an arrest nearly two weeks later and that the school’s attempt at intervention caused “a lot of problems” in the investigation.
Jonathan Lewis Sr. — whose son, Jonathan Jr., 17, died Nov. 7 from the brutal attack that was captured on video — defended local authorities’ efforts to probe the assault, which occurred just blocks from Rancho HS.
“I’m in close contact with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Detective Division and they are working very diligently,” Lewis told News-Nation’s Leland Vittert.
Vittert asked Lewis if he believes police are stalling in the investigation.
“If you’re part of a gang that attacks somebody and somebody dies, you get arrested for murder. That’s just the way it works. Why has it taken so long?” he asked.
School interference
Lewis acknowledged that cops haven’t commented publicly on why they haven’t made an arrest, but said they are working diligently to collect evidence.
“There’s other videos that are not released to the public, just so that you’re aware of that,” he said.
“And exactly what occurred was that Jonathan was actually attacked first by a few kids and they couldn’t beat him up because he was so strong. And then so all the other kids joined in and beat him to death after that,” he added.
The investigation was also complicated by school officials who “gathered up” some of the perpetrators although they were cautioned not to do so, Lewis claimed.
“So the investigation got a lot more complex,” he admitted.
Lewis Jr. was defending a smaller friend who had been stuffed into a trash can when the mob set upon him, his father previously claimed.
The angry adolescents viciously hit and kicked Lewis Jr., who was extremely outnumbered.
Las Vegas police did not respond to The Post’s request for a comment.
“Jonathan just knew the great strength of love,” Lewis said of his son’s heroic final act.
The teen grew up in a family of military veterans — including Lewis’ father, a retired Navy specialist master diver, and grandfather, a “highly decorated” World War II veteran, the parent explained.
“It’s really shaken us to the core,” Reuben D’Silva, a state assemblyman who is also a teacher and alumnus of the school, told NewsNation. “This is just an act of brutality that I’ve never witnessed at Rancho High School.”