NEW video has emerged of the brutal beating that killed 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis and put eight teens behind bars.
The shocking footage appears to show the victim throwing the first punch that started the fighting near Las Vegas in an alley outside Rancho High School on November 1.
A mob of students can be seen immediately surrounding Lewis as they begin to kick and punch him before he falls to the ground, in the video first shared by the New York Post.
After the mortally wounded teen wearing the white shirt received dozens of blows, most of the assailants can be seen breaking off into smaller fights or running away.
A family member of Gianni Robinson, one of the students accused of participating in the murder, claimed to Post reporters that the video proves Lewis started the fight.
Robinson's family also alleged that Lewis was carrying a knife that he had threatened the suspect's friend group with.
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"Jonathan Lewis’s friend told Gianni that he wanted to stab and kill someone in their group,” the family member, who requested to remain anonymous, told the Post.
"Gianni didn’t even know Jonathan Lewis, but they claimed someone took Jonathan’s wax pen a week or two [before the fight]. That’s how this whole thing started.”
The source claimed that the entire fight was the result of Lewis confronting Robinson's group over his stolen vape pen.
Robinson also claimed that he was taken aback by the accusation of stealing because he had been absent from school for weeks before the fight due to a family issue.
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“They were all standing around seeing what was going on and that’s when Jonathan Lewis started swinging,” the family member said.
“And once the group went over there, Lewis’ friend pulled out the knife and started trying to stab at people,” the person claimed.
Lewis’s father, also named Jonathan Lewis, suggested that his son died trying to protect his friend from being bullied by others in a GoFundMe post.
Lewis was immediately rushed to the hospital after the fight and placed on life support.
He died from his injuries six days later.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police have arrested at least eight teens, aged 13 to 17, who they believe participated in the violent attack.
Robinson has been charged as an adult and is facing second-degree murder charges along with three other teens — Dontral Beaver, 16, Damien Hernandez, 17, and Treavion Randolph, 16.
The four have also been charged with felony conspiracy to commit battery with substantial bodily harm, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said on Tuesday.
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Four more juveniles have also been charged, but since they are under 16 years old, their cases will stay in juvenile court and their names will not be released by authorities.
Las Vegas Police are still looking for two more teen suspects that they have yet to identify from the videos.
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