Eight teens face murder charges for allegedly beating classmate to death after he stood up for 'smaller friend'
Four of the eight Las Vegas teenagers who are accused of taking part in the fatal beating of their classmate Jonathan Lewis have now made their first appearance in adult court.
This comes just days after the police branded the viral attack 'very void of humanity'.
Two 16-year-olds and two 17-year-olds now face murder charges in connection to Lewis' death on 7 November, and will face their judgement together.
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In separate hearings, the four teens were ordered to remain held without bail pending a formal hearing to address their custody status.
None of the students who were arrested have been formally charged. UNILAD is not naming them as they are juveniles.
According to a GoFundMe page, Lewis had been in the area near his school on November 1 when one of his 'smaller friends' had something stolen by a group of 15 people.
He fought with one of the alleged killers over a set of wireless headphones, according to Las Vegas Homicide Lt. Jason Johansson, who made a statement on Tuesday 14 November.
Following the first punch being thrown, disturbing footage from the attack showed Lewis confronting one member of the group, before he was surrounded and beaten by them.
The younger friend was also allegedly thrown into a trash can by the bullies.
Jonathan was discovered by police at about 2.05pm local time, with blood coming from a wound on his head.
Paramedics performed chest compressions on the teen before rushing him University Medical Center, where he was put on life support.
He tragically died a week later, according to police.
On the GoFundMe page, Jonathan's family describe the teen as a 'kind, loving, gentle young man' with 'the brightest loving energy'.
An 'aspiring artist' and 'devoted big brother', Jonathan has also been remembered as someone who 'loved community and caring for others'.
The teen's dad, also called Jonathan Lewis, told KLAS his son kept to himself and had been planning to move to Austin, Texas to live with him before the attack.
The elder Lewis is hopeful that the tragedy involving his son will spark a conversation about youth violence, claiming children 'don’t even know what they’re doing half the time'.
Las Vegas Metro Police Department - with the help of the FBI - identified 10 of the suspects from the video of the attack, and eight were arrested on Tuesday.
The other four suspects - whose ages range from 13 to 17 - are currently in the juvenile court system, waiting to be certified to enter the adult court to face murder charges.
In the state of Nevada, a case is automatically transfered from a juvenile court to an adult court if someone over 16 years old is accused of murder - something referred to in the court as a certification.
The public have been asked by the LVMPD for assistance in identifying the other two suspects in the video, who are yet to be arrested.
Clark County Deputy District Attorney Shanon Clowers-Sanborn
told press on Friday: "I know there’s still two outstanding juveniles, we have four down still within the juvenile system that were not able to be direct file."
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal earlier this week: "At the end of the day, a young man was brutally murdered, and I believe that some of these juveniles will be held responsible."
Wolfson is the prosecutor seeking to charge the teens suspected of beating Lewis to death as adults.
Rhianna Benson