The family of Jonathan Lewis, a Las Vegas teen who was beaten to death by bullies, has set up an anti-bullying foundation in his memory. The foundation, Team Jonathan, has reportedly partnered with other anti-bullying campaigns including Choose Love and Dads in Schools. Their aim is to combat the increasing number of bullying incidents in schools across the US.
More than 12 youths brutally beat 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis near Rancho High School on November 1 when he tried to stand up for a younger friend who had been robbed by the gang. After the incident, a video showing the moment the fight broke out surfaced. In a conversation with 8NewsNow, Jonathan’s father, also named Jonathan Lewis, said his son was living with his mother in Las Vegas when he died, and was planning to move to Austin, Texas.
Team Jonathan
On the website of Team Jonathan , the teen’s father described the pain of watching Jonathan’s “life leave his body.” “After holding our son's hand in the hospital while on life support for 2 days and nights, we felt an obligation to act in our community that moved us to our core,” Lewis wrote.
“We feel a deep calling to spend the rest of our lives to bring awareness, healing, and solutions to the issues that provoke violence among our youth in the community!” he continued. “Jonathan's mom came up with the name Team Jonathan while we talked about starting a foundation for our son in the hospital!
{{/usCountry}}“We feel a deep calling to spend the rest of our lives to bring awareness, healing, and solutions to the issues that provoke violence among our youth in the community!” he continued. “Jonathan's mom came up with the name Team Jonathan while we talked about starting a foundation for our son in the hospital!
{{/usCountry}}He added, "We will have updates as we make progress creating this foundation in our blog section! Sign up to our email list to stay updated.”
About Jonathan, the website says, “Jonathan was a hero who tried to help a smaller child who was being bullied and 15 people attacked him in cowardly violence and our beloved son was beaten to death! Jonathan was an aspiring artist, a kind, loving, caring, and generous young man who had his whole life ahead of him and he will be forever loved and cherished every day every moment!”
Meanwhile, eight teens have been arrested and charged with murder in connection with Jonathan’s death. They were taken into custody and booked in juvenile hall. Jonathan’s cause of death was blunt force trauma and classified as a homicide, authorities said during a press conference streamed by the Las Vegas Review Journal.