An Iowa 17-year-old who pled guilty to killing the guy she suspected of raping her was forced to pay the alleged rapist’s family $150,000.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Pieper Lewis, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury, was given a deferred judgment on each of the two 10-year jail sentences for those crimes.
That means she won’t go to prison unless she violates her probation terms.
Polk County District Judge David Porter stated on Tuesday that the “court is faced with no other option” but to order her to pay the $150,000, citing Iowa law.
According to the Associated Press, she was first charged with first-degree murder.
Lewis, a foster child, was 15 and destitute when she said she was raped on multiple occasions.
According to the Des Moines Register, her defense attorneys said she was caught up in a sex-trafficking deal between her then-boyfriend and the man she killed, Zachary Brooks.
According to the Associated Press, prosecutors did not contest Lewis’ charges of rape or sex trafficking in the case, but because Brooks is no longer alive, he cannot be formally proven guilty.
According to her plea deal, which was obtained by the Register, Brooks’ partner encouraged her in May 2020 to go and stay with Brooks, who plied her with beer and drugs.
Brooks then allegedly had sex with her five times while she was asleep, which she stated she did not want to do.
Her attorneys stated how, on May 31, the boyfriend threatened her with a knife and urged her to return to Brooks’ place, where he would receive $50 in marijuana in exchange for sex acts with Lewis.
Lewis fell asleep after being persuaded to drink and smoke marijuana, according to her lawyers, and awoke to discover herself being raped.
According to the Associated Press, after Brooks fell asleep, she grabbed a knife off the table next to him.
“I suddenly understood that Mr. Brooks had raped me yet again, and [I] was seized with wrath,” she told the Register. She then stabbed him more than 30 times, killing him, according to the newspaper.
In Iowa, the consent age is 16. However, the law states that 14- and 15-year-olds can consent to sex with someone 48 months their junior. Brooks was 37 years old when he was slain, according to the Register.
According to the article, Lewis, who graduated high school while in jail, wants to become an advocate for juvenile justice.
According to the article, Porter also ordered her to complete 1,200 hours of community service and to stay at the Fresh Start Women’s Center, a women’s correctional facility.
At the sentencing, she read from a prepared statement.
According to the Associated Press, “My spirit has been scorched, yet it still sparkles through the flames,” she said. “Hear me roar, see me sparkle, and keep an eye on me as I grow.”