Zachary Brooks' murder in 2020 in Des Moines resulted in an order for Pieper Lewis, then 17 years old, to compensate his family $150,000 (£130,000). She was 15 years old at the time. Last year, she pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and willful harm. Both offences carry a maximum prison sentence of ten years. If she breaches her probation terms, she may face a 20-year prison sentence.
Lewis was sleeping in a corridor after leaving a violent family in 2020 when a guy took her in and trafficked her to others for sex. She said in court that one of them was Brooks, 37, and that he had repeatedly raped her. When she was 15, she stabbed him more than 30 times in a flat in Des Moines, Iowa, the state capital in the Midwestern area.
Lewis admitted she had committed a crime, but she justified her conduct. "I killed someone, but my goals that day were not to go out and kill someone. In my mind, I was afraid that I wasn't safe and that I was in danger, which led to the behaviours. However, this does not negate the fact that a crime was committed "She stated.