No plea deal in fatal beating of Rancho High student
A judge on Monday declined to accept the pleas of four juveniles accused of fatally beating a 17-year-old Rancho High School student, saying she had jurisdictional concerns about the case.
In a deal announced last week, Treavion Randolph, 16, Dontral Beaver, 16, Damien Hernandez, 18, and Gianni Robinson, 17, had their cases transferred to Juvenile Court. Authorities have accused them of being part of a group of teens who attacked Jonathan Lewis outside the school on Nov. 1 — stomping, kicking and punching him until he fell unconscious. The attack was captured on video.
The defendants had agreed to enter pleas to voluntary manslaughter in Juvenile Court to avoid facing murder charges as adults.
At a hearing Monday, Juvenile Court Judge Linda Marquis said she had jurisdictional concerns. Those concerns meant that she was not in a position to take the defendants’ pleas, she said.
She continued the case until early September.
She explained that she did so to allow the defense attorneys to address her issues and submit a new plea agreement if they want.
Marquis did not specify her concerns, but Louis Schneider, the attorney who represented Hernandez on Monday, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he thought they might stem from the adult criminal case not being dismissed.
Attorney Robert Draskovich, who represents Robinson, confirmed that the judge wants the case dismissed in District Court. She also wants the plea agreement to specify that the case will be dismissed in District Court and refiled in Juvenile Court, he said.
The victim’s mother told the Review-Journal last week that she wasn’t told about the deal.
“I’m just so dumbfounded and hurt and confused,” Mellisa Ready said at the time. “I don’t even know what’s going on, and I should know.”
The district attorney’s office claimed in a statement that she was aware of the negotiations.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.