Four Las Vegas teens accused of beating a 17-year-old classmate to death agreed to a plea agreement that will allow them to be sentenced as juveniles on voluntary manslaughter charges instead of as adults, leaving the victim's mother "dumbfounded," according to a report.
Treavion Randolph, 16, Dontral Beaver, 16, Damien Hernandez, 18, and Gianni Robinson, 17, were initially charged with second-degree murder in the death of Jonathan Lewis last November at Rancho High School, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
With the plea deal reached Thursday, their cases will be returned to juvenile court where they will face being held in a juvenile detention center, the report said.
"I'm just so dumbfounded and hurt and confused," Mellisa Ready, Lewis' mother, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I don't even know what's going on, and I should know."
She said she was not informed of the possible plea agreement and said she learned of the negotiations from reporters after Thursday's hearing, which she did not attend.
Clark County prosecutors said Ready was kept abreast of the talks.
"While the District Attorney's Office acknowledges the pain the victim's mother is going through as she mourns the loss of her son, the negotiation was accurately conveyed to her last week, prior to the court proceeding," the district attorney's office said in a statement to the newspaper.
"The conversation was witnessed by multiple DA personnel," it said.
"Ultimately, the State determined the juvenile court was best equipped to punish the defendants for their heinous conduct while also attempting to rehabilitate them," the statement said.
