Lawyers for Iowa teen who killed man she said raped her may appeal $150,000 she was ordered to pay his family
The Des Moines, Iowa, teen's lawyers are considering whether to seek a discretionary review with the Iowa Supreme Court.
As online outrage mounts and donations pour in for a teenager in Des Moines, Iowa, who was ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to the family of a man who she said had raped her, her lawyers are considering whether to seek a discretionary review with the Iowa Supreme Court.
Pieper Lewis, a repeat runaway, was 15 when she fatally stabbed Zachary Brooks, 37, more than 30 times in June 2020 in a Des Moines apartment. She pleaded guilty in June 2021 to voluntary manslaughter and willful injury. Polk County District Judge David Porter on Tuesday sentenced Lewis, who had been jailed at the Polk County Juvenile Detention Center for two years, to five years of closely supervised probation and ordered her to pay $150,000 in restitution to Brooks’ family.
Porter said he had no choice because restitution is mandatory under Iowa law.
At the request of Lewis’ attorneys, the judge granted a deferred judgment, which means her guilty plea could be expunged if she meets the terms of her probation.
At a sentencing hearing Tuesday, one of Lewis’ attorneys, Matthew Sheeley, an assistant state public defender, argued that Brooks’ estate was not entitled to any restitution.
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