Pieper Lewis Escapes Custody Wanted By Police
Pieper Lewis is back in the headlines months after she was sentenced to probation for killing a man she said sexually assaulted her. Now the eighteen year old is wanted by police for escaping custody at the probation facility where she was being held. The main problem for Pieper Lewis is this could lead to her probation being revoked meaning she could spend the next two decades in prison. According to police reports Pieper Lewis allegedly cut off her ankle bracelet and fled from the facility, Fresh Start Women’s Center in Des Moines Iowa. Pieper Lewis would plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to probation and a $150,000 fine which was paid from a GoFund Me campaign
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Iowa authorities say an 18-year-old sex trafficking victim who pleaded guilty to killing a man she said raped her escaped from a women’s centre where she was serving her probation sentence.
Pieper Lewis was seen walking out of the building at the Fresh Start Women’s Center in Des Moines shortly after 6:15 a.m. Friday, and at some point that day her GPS monitor was cut off, according to a probation violation report.
A warrant was issued for Lewis’ arrest and the probation report asked for her deferred judgment to be revoked and have her original sentence imposed, KCCI reported. She could face up to 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors had called the probation sentence she was given in September merciful for a teen who endured horrible abuse, although some questioned the $150,000 restitution she was ordered to pay. A GoFundMe campaign raised over $560,000 to cover the restitution and pay for her other needs.
Polk County Judge David Porter told Lewis that her probation sentence “was the second chance you asked for. You don’t get a third,” the Des Moines Register reported.
If Lewis had successfully completed five years of closely supervised probation her prison sentence would have been expunged
Lewis pleaded guilty last year to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury in the June 2020 killing of 37-year-old Zachary Brooks, a married father of two. Lewis was 15 when she stabbed Brooks more than 30 times in a Des Moines apartment.
Lewis has said that she was trafficked against her will to Brooks for sex multiple times and stabbed him in a fit of rage. Police and prosecutors did not dispute that Lewis was sexually assaulted and trafficked.
The Associated Press does not typically name victims of sexual assault, but Lewis agreed to have her name used previously in stories about her case.
Pieper Lewis Update – November 9 2022
An 18-year-old sex trafficking victim who killed her rapist was being held in an Iowa jail Wednesday and could face a prison term after she walked away from a Des Moines women’s shelter where she was serving probation for a manslaughter conviction.
Pieper Lewis was booked into the Polk County Jail on Tuesday, said Polk County Sheriff Lt. Ryan Evans.
Iowa Department of Corrections officers located her in Des Moines and took her into custody.
“We would like to thank law enforcement and members of Iowa’s 5th Judicial District for their efforts to safely bring Ms. Lewis back into custody,” corrections spokesman Nick Crawford said.
An arrest warrant had been issued after Lewis was seen walking out of the Fresh Start Women’s Center in Des Moines shortly after 6:15 a.m. Friday, according to a report filed with the court by a probation officer and the shelter’s residential supervisor. The report said Lewis cut off the GPS monitor she was ordered to wear as part of her sentence and then left the facility.
She will be taken before Judge David Porter for a probation revocation hearing. A date had not yet been set as of Wednesday. If her probation is revoked she could be sentenced to prison.
Porter sentenced Lewis in September to probation for five years to be served at the women’s shelter. He also gave her a deferred judgement, which meant her conviction would be expunged from her record if she completed the requirements of her probation. Porter warned Lewis at her sentencing hearing that by affording her an opportunity to avoid prison he was giving her a second chance. “You don’t get a third,” he said.
Lewis had faced a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty last year to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury in the June 2020 killing of 37-year-old Zachary Brooks, a married father of two. Lewis was 15 when she stabbed Brooks more than 30 times in a Des Moines apartment. She had originally been charged with first-degree murder but prosecutors agreed to a plea deal that dropped that charge in exchange for her plea.
Lewis has said that she was trafficked against her will to Brooks for sex multiple times and stabbed him in a fit of rage after he forced her to have sex with him again. Police and prosecutors did not dispute that Lewis was sexually assaulted and trafficked. The man she accused of forcing her to have sex with men, including Brooks, has never been charged.
Court documents indicate Lewis was allowed to leave the women’s shelter to work at a local pizza restaurant and show she had several incidents of violating the shelter rules in the past month.
The 48-bed shelter is in a neighbourhood northwest of downtown Des Moines. It is operated by the Department of Corrections for women on parole, work release or on pretrial release.
https://canoe.com/news/world/iowa-teen-who-killed-rapist-being-held-in-jail-after-leaving-shelter
