Noah Sharp Teen Killer Murders Madison Sparrow

noah sharp

Noah Sharp was a nineteen year old teen killer from Delaware who would lure his ex girlfriend, Madison Sparrow, to the woods and beat her to death with a baseball bat. According to court documents Noah Sharp and his current girlfriend Annika Stalczynski, who was seventeen at the time of the murder, would convince Madison Sparrow to go out to the woods where she was brutally attacked and murdered. Annika Stalczynski would take a plea deal in exchange of getting out of a life sentence, however she has yet to be sentenced. Noah Sharp decided to try his luck at trial and the jury quickly found him guilty of the murder and other charges and he is expected to receive a life sentence.

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A Delaware man who lured his ex-girlfriend to a wooded area and beat her to death with a baseball bat has been convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes. 

A jury deliberated for less than three hours Thursday before finding 21-year-old Noah Sharp guilty of murder, conspiracy and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony.

Sharp faces a mandatory life sentence. Prosecutors are also recommending a life sentence for Sharp’s accomplice, 19-year-old Annika Stalczynski. 

She pleaded guilty in May to murder and conspiracy in the killing of 17-year-old Madison Sparrow

Sparrow was a junior at Newark Charter School. She was reported missing on Oct. 2, 2020 after she didn’t return home from a trip with Stalczynski to get ice cream.

A jury deliberated for less than three hours Thursday before finding 21-year-old Noah Sharp guilty of murder, conspiracy and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony.

Sharp faces a mandatory life sentence. Prosecutors are also recommending a life sentence for Sharp’s accomplice, 19-year-old Annika Stalczynski. 

She pleaded guilty in May to murder and conspiracy in the killing of 17-year-old Madison Sparrow. Sparrow was a junior at Newark Charter School. 

She was reported missing on Oct. 2, 2020 after she didn’t return home from a trip with Stalczynski to get ice cream

https://www.fox29.com/news/ex-boyfriend-guilty-of-murder-in-killing-of-17-year-old-delaware-girl

Noah Sharp Other News

The day Madison Sparrow left home for the final time, she donned a pair of ghost earrings.

She didn’t wear jewelry often, but earrings were even rarer, her mother said. It was less than a month before Halloween, though, and Sparrow wanted to be festive to get ice cream with a friend she hadn’t seen in several months.

What happened after 17-year-old Sparrow walked out her front door on the afternoon of Oct. 2, 2020, however, would be no ghost story. Instead, the hours, days, weeks and two years that followed became a real-life nightmare for Sparrow’s family, friends and the Newark community.

On Thursday, some of that nightmare came to an end. After less than three hours of deliberation, a New Castle County jury found Noah Sharp, Sparrow’s ex-boyfriend, guilty of murdering Sparrow. 

The jury also found Noah Sharp guilty of conspiring with Annika Stalczynski – the friend Sparrow was supposed to get ice cream with the day of her death – to commit the crime.

The verdict, which prompted almost no visible reaction from Noah Sharp or his mother, yet left Sparrow’s family and friends in relieved tears, came after eight days of evidence and more than 250 exhibits presented by prosecutors. 

The defense’s case, which Sharp’s attorneys made in less than three hours Wednesday morning, consisted largely of the statements of just three witnesses: Sharp’s mother, brother and grandmother.

Attorney General Kathy Jennings said Thursday afternoon she was “grateful to the jury for doing the right thing.” She added that for Sparrow’s family and friends, however, “closure is much more elusive than justice.”

“Madison was a daughter, a friend and a wonderful person,” Jennings said. “Her loss is too great to measure and everyone who knew and loved her is in our hearts today.

Sparrow’s mother, Heather Sparrow Murphy, who sat through every day of the trial, said she had “no words” following the verdict.

Instead, she gave a phrase her daughter used to use:

“Embrace the light, not the dark,” Murphy said, quoting Sparrow. “Love wins.

Sparrow’s mother, Heather Sparrow Murphy, who sat through every day of the trial, said she had “no words” following the verdict.

Instead, she gave a phrase her daughter used to use:

“Embrace the light, not the dark,” Murphy said, quoting Sparrow. “Love wins.

At several points during the trial, Sharp’s defense team attempted to argue that someone else could have had control of Sharp’s devices and that it wasn’t him texting Stalczynski. Given their verdict, it appears the jury rejected this argument.

In court proceedings, the jury watched hours’ worth of video of Sharp’s interviews with police at Delaware State Police Troop 2 in Glasgow. Over the course of several days, they heard how Sharp’s ever-changing stories ultimately crumbled, culminating in a confession.

They also saw, through police video, how Noah Sharp led detectives to where he and Stalczynski buried Sparrow in a 2- or 3-foot grave – a decision the teens made after unsuccessfully drowning Sparrow’s body in the Christina River under I-95 several dozen yards away.

And the jury listened as several detectives testified that they found a bare footprint in the mud next to the river – where paving blocks from Stalczynski’s home and Sparrow’s burned clothing were found – of which they created a cast.

A Delaware State Police fingerprint analyst then testified that from the cast, she was able to obtain enough detail of the print of the big toe to compare it to an inking of Sharp’s big toe. The two matched, she said.

During his various interviews with police, Noah Sharp said he often walked barefoot. An employee of Sobieski Inc., the heating and cooling company that has a warehouse close to where Sharp and Stalczynski disposed of Sparrow’s body, also testified that he saw Sharp not wearing shoes.

Perhaps most anticipated in the trial, though, was Stalczynski’s Monday morning testimony. She pleaded guilty in May to murder and conspiracy in exchange for an agreement that prosecutors will ask for 30 years in prison.

The plea documents required her to testify.

Over a period of about three hours, she quietly confirmed what prosecutors had already presented to the jury the week prior, testifying that her role in the plot was borne out of Sharp’s claims to her that Sparrow was “spreading (her) business.”

Sparrow’s family and friends have repeatedly said the girl wasn’t the type to talk badly about her friends. Stalczynski hinted on Monday that she now realizes Sharp may have not been truthful with her.

“We was all friends … and he was messing with both of us,” Stalczynski said. 

Sharp’s defense team made much of the now-19-year-old’s plea agreement and testimony, suggesting during closing arguments on Wednesday afternoon that Stalczynski was not to be believed.

Monika Germono, one of Sharp’s three defense attorneys, told the jury not to be “fooled” by Stalczynski’s “small build or quiet voice.”

“She’s the one who received a plea to 30 years,” Germono said.

It remains unclear how much weight the jury ultimately gave her testimony

During their back-to-back testimony, Sharp’s mother and brother contradicted each other several times. At least once, Sharp’s mom also contradicted herself.

Nikia Sharp testified Wednesday that her son wasn’t particularly wet when he arrived home on the evening of Oct. 2, while David Sharp said his brother was very wet.

“I don’t know if he’d been crawling through mud or water or what,” David Sharp testified.

Nikia Sharp also said that soon after her son got home, Stalczynski came into the house and was “calm.”

But David Sharp said the teen “stormed in” and slammed the door twice. When questioned by prosecutor John Downs about Stalczynski’s demeanor, David Sharp said: “When you slam a door, I don’t think you’d describe it as calm.”

In closing arguments, neither Sharp’s defense team nor the prosecutors noted these inconsistencies. 

Instead, the defense argued that police “molded” Sharp’s confession while prosecutors urged the jury not to overthink what they had heard over a period of eight days.

“Don’t outsmart your common sense,” said Deputy Attorney General Matt Frawley. “You know when something doesn’t make sense, you know when something doesn’t add up.”

When the verdict was returned to Judge Ferris Wharton just after 1 p.m. Thursday, he reminded courtroom spectators to remain composed, something he had said Wednesday afternoon after Sharp’s family began audibly reacting from the spectator section of the courtroom.

Heeding this, the courtroom was silent as the jury entered, with spectators sitting up a little straighter in their seats. When the foreperson announced guilty on all three charges, several of Sparrow’s family members and close friends began crying silently. Others put their hands on each other’s backs.

https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/2022/10/27/madison-sparrow-killing-jury-reaches-verdict-in-murder-trial-noah-sharp/69595805007/

Sierra Halseth Teen Killer Murders Father

sierra halseth photos

Sierra Halseth is a teen killer from Nevada who had a typical teen problem which was her father did not like her boyfriend Aaron Guerrero however instead of ending the relationship the two teen lovebirds would murder her father. According to court documents Sierra Halseth and Aaron Guerrero would stab Daniel Halseth over seventy times before attempting to set the house on fire. The two would then steal Daniel’s vehicle and debit card before fleeing. Sierra Halseth would be convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Aaron Guerrero who was eighteen years old at the time of the murder would receive the same sentence. The two are eligible for parole after serving 25 years

Sierra Halseth More News

A teenage girl and her boyfriend were sentenced Thursday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for fatally stabbing the girl’s father.

In May, Sierra Halseth and Aaron Guerrero admitted to killing 45-year-old Daniel Halseth, attempting to set his house on fire, and taking his car and debit card to flee to Salt Lake City.

Halseth’s burnt body, stabbed and cut 70 times, was found in the garage of his northwest Las Vegas home on April 9, 2021, and the teenagers were detained in Salt Lake City four days later.

District Judge Tierra Jones sentenced Sierra and Guerrero to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 22 years. The defendants also were ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution.

“This is a very, very tragic situation,” Jones said. “I wish that there was something that I was going to say or something that I could do that would stop all the suffering that is going on.”

Sierra was 16 at the time of the killing. Guerrero was 18, but Clark County Detention Center records show that he is now 20.

The two defendants pleaded guilty to all the counts they faced: murder with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, arson, robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and four counts of fraudulent use of a credit or debit card.

Court records indicate that Sierra and Guerrero dated from June 2020 to December 2020, when their parents stopped them from seeing each other after learning that the teenagers planned to leave for Los Angeles together.

The day before Halseth’s body was found, Guerrero ran away from home, and the teenagers later purchased a circular saw, saw blades, bleach, lighter fluid, disposable gloves and drop cloth from stores near Halseth’s home, according to arresting documents. Hundreds of dollars also were withdrawn from one of Halseth’s bank accounts.

After police arrested the couple, investigators found a video on Sierra’s phone showing the couple giggling and discussing what officials said was her father’s killing.

During the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Sierra read from a statement while addressing the judge. In the statement, Sierra alleged that her father abused her sexually and physically, and pushed her to drink alcohol.

“My biological father has traumatized me — trauma I still have to work through every day,” Sierra told the judge.

When Guerrero addressed the judge, he apologized to Halseth’s family.

Michael Sanft, Sierra’s defense attorney, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the evidence in the case did not allow him to corroborate all of Sierra’s claims about her father.

However, Sanft said, “there had to have been a reason” for the killing.

“I don’t think anyone here says this was not horrible,” the attorney said. “It was just the fact that there was more to the story.”

Sierra’s parents had gone through a bitter divorce, court records show. Sierra’s mother, who now goes by the name Elizabeth Helgelien, had been granted primary custody after Halseth filed for divorce in 2011, but the girl’s parents began disputing custody arrangements in 2020.

Child Protective Services interviewed Sierra at one point, according to court records. In videos of Family Court hearings previously obtained by the Review-Journal, Family Court Judge Charles Hoskin said, “Something else is going on with Sierra.”

“I don’t know yet what that is, whether that’s parental alienation, whether that’s human trafficking, whether that’s manipulation,” Hoskin said during an October 2020 hearing. “And I don’t know who at this point is to blame for that.”

In October 2011, Halseth was arrested on suspicion of open and gross lewdness after Helgelien said he assaulted her, according to an arrest report. He pleaded guilty a year later to misdemeanor counts of coercion and battery, and was sentenced to six months’ probation.

Helgelien told the Review-Journal on Thursday that she believed what her daughter said about her ex-husband, and that she wanted Sierra removed from his home.

“The system failed her at every turn. They could have saved her, and they failed her,” Helgelien said.

Three of Halseth’s siblings and his mother spoke during the sentencing hearing, expressing anger at Sierra. Following the hearing, Halseth’s mother, Christine Halseth, said her granddaughter’s statement about him was “nothing but a lie.”

Multiple family members told the judge on Thursday that they wished Sierra had received the death penalty.

Ben Halseth, one of the victim’s brothers, showed the judge posters full of pictures of Daniel Halseth when he was young. He said his brother was a “great father,” and “all he wanted in life was to be a good dad to his kids.”

Tom Halseth, another brother, cried as he addressed the judge. He said Sierra and Guerrero took something away from him that he cannot ever get back.

“I can hear my brother asking me to forgive. And to be honest, I’m not sure that’s even possible,” Tom Halseth said.

Review Journal Link

Tamara McLoyd Teen Killer Murders Cop

Tamara McLoyd ohio

Tamara McLoyd is a nineteen year old woman from Ohio who was just sentenced to life in prison for the murder of an off duty police officer. According to court documents Tamara McLoyd was involved in a robbery spree which ended with her fatally shooting Cleveland Police Officer Shane Bartek who was off duty at the time. Tamara McLoyd would be convicted of armed robbery charges as well as the murder of the police officer. This teen killer will have to serve over fifty years in prison before she becomes eligible for parole

Tamara McLoyd 2023 Information

tamara mcloyd 2022

Number W110082

DOB 07/28/2003

Gender Female

Race Black

Admission Date 10/19/2022

Institution Ohio Reformatory for Women

Status INCARCERATED

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Tamara McLoyd was sentenced Tuesday afternoon after previously being found guilty for the shooting death of off-duty Cleveland Police Officer Shane Bartek during a carjacking on New Year’s Day last year.

Judge John P. O’Donnell sentenced McLoyd to life in prison with a parole eligibility after 25 years.

“I can’t in good conscience impose a sentence of life without parole….. if you disagree, I can’t fault you,” O’Donnell said.

McLoyd will need to serve additional sentences for the robbery charges, totaling 54 years before her first eligibility for parole.

“You will be in your 70s by the time your first parole eligibility comes up,” O’Donnell said to the 19-year-old at the end of the sentencing hearing.

But before Judge O’Donnell read the sentence, Bartek’s family members had a chance to read victim impact statements.

Debra Bartek, his mother, said she and Shane were close. She misses everything about him.

“As a mother of a police officer, you know it’s a possibility that your child can be killed on their job; you don’t think on the way to a Cav’s game your child will be murdered over a car, she said.

She recounted the night it happened.

“I couldn’t hold my baby, I couldn’t wipe away the blood on him, I couldn’t tell him how sorry I was that this happened to him,” she told the judge.

His brother, Eric Bartek, said they will never be the same.

“Shane planned to serve and protect the rest of his life, but now we are going to be grieving for the rest of ours,” he said.

His twin sister, Summer Bartek, said a part of her died when Shane did.

“While Tamara McLoyd was out partying and having fun I was staring my twin’s dead body,” she said. “Shane died alone, cold and wet, in between cars, and he deserved so much better than that.”

She told the judge she always loved the label of being a ‘twin’ and now she is a ‘twinless twin.’

“To lose a twin, there isn’t a word. The best way to describe the loss is our souls were connected with a cord, so strong, so powerful, that not anything could break it except death. Tamara McLoyd broke the cord and I’ve been floating into oblivion ever since,” she said.

McLoyd’s mother also spoke to the judge, asking him to have mercy on her daughter because she struggles with mental health issues.

“I feel bad for this family. I am also hurting,” she said. “I know my daughter has to go to jail and I know a man is dead, but I don’t think that she has to spend the rest of her life in jail because she really isn’t fully aware of the things that she did.”

Judge O’Donnell asked McLoyd if she would like to say anything, to which her attorneys said they have advised her not to speak.

“There is no question that you have my sympathy and my admiration for your composure here today,” O’Donnell said to Bartek’s family members, who were present at the sentencing hearing Tuesday.

After the sentencing, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said he’s not sure if justice will ever be served because Bartek is gone, but said the streets of Cuyahoga County will be safer without McLoyd on them.

“She was convicted, adjudicated as a juvenile, for a home-invasion robbery in Lorain two months before this occurred and she was basically turned back on the streets of our community with no punishment,” he said. “This could’ve all been prevented had it been handled correctly in Lorain County.”

O’Malley said the state did not pursue the death penalty in McLoyd’s case because the Bartek family didn’t want it.

“We are Christians,” said Debra Bartek. “She’s young too and we wanted her in jail as long as possible so she couldn’t hurt anyone else.”

Bartek added that they can finally start the healing process.

“We had to stand up for him but now we can grieve and move on because I know him and he would’ve wanted us to do that,” she said

Last month, she was found guilty of the following charges: Aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, aggravated robbery, grand theft, having weapons under disability, and theft. She was found not guilty of a second aggravated murder charge.

McLoyd was indicted on Jan. 7 on charges in connection with Bartek’s shooting.

According to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, On Dec. 31, 2021, McLoyd approached Bartek at an apartment building near Rocky River and Fairway drives in Cleveland. She walked up behind him, robbed him at gunpoint and then fatally shot him. After the shooting, McLoyd stole Bartek’s vehicle and fled the scene.

Bartek was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.

She was indicted on April 12 on charges in connection with a Christmas Day robbery.

Prosecutors said that on Dec. 25, she approached a 27-year-old man at the same apartment complex Bartek was shot at. As with Bartek, she allegedly took the man’s keys and fled in his vehicle.

She was arrested the day after Bartek’s death after she was linked to the Dec. 25 robbery through evidence.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/shane-bartek/1-pm-tamara-mcloyd-to-be-sentenced-for-death-of-officer-shane-bartek

Sharon Carr Teen Killer Devils Daughter

Sharon Carr

Sharon Carr was just twelve years old when she fatally stabbed an eighteen year old woman to death. According to court documents Sharon Carr would attack eighteen year old  Katie Rackliff and fatally stab the woman to death. Apparently the teen killer chose the victim at random. Sharon Carr would not be arrested for two years when she was picked up by police after she stabbed a classmate. Carr would talk about the  Katie Rackliff in her diary and during phone calls to family and would finally be charged with murder. This teen killer would be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for fourteen years, however it would later be reduced to life with no parole for 12 years. However her violent behaviour behind bars has kept her out of society even though the twelve years has come and gone.

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Britain’s youngest female murderer is bidding to be released from the high-security London prison she is held in. When Sharon Carr was 12 she was dubbed the Devil’s Daughter after she stabbed 18-year-old Katie Rackliff more than 30 times in an unprovoked attack.

Rackliff was walking home from a night out in June 1992 when Carr attacked her for ‘fun’. It took five years before Carr, now 42, was convicted of murder in 1997 and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 14 years. It was later reduced to 12 years on appeal, which has long since expired

Ever since she has been held in high-security prisons, often in solitary confinement due to violence towards inmates and staff, and is currently held in HMP Bronzefield in south-west London. Carr is bidding for a full release or move to an open prison next month, the Express reports.

A Parole Board spokesperson said: “Her hearing is listed for early next month and the panel are looking at release and open conditions. The decision will be due in October.”

Twenty-four months ago she was considered too unstable to be released after she tried to get her restricted prisoner status downgraded. Mr Justice Knowles denied permission for her to seek a judicial review after he heard she had fantasised about murdering another inmate. He wrote in his judgement: “She disclosed thoughts of wanting to murder another resident by splitting her head open with a flask and throwing her down the stairs to snap her neck.”

He warned that if she were given less stringent conditions she was likely to form “intense relationships with females that turned into violent fantasies when thwarted”.

Katie’s murder, which involved 32 stab wounds all over the hairdresser’s body, including intimate areas, was so brutal police initially thought they were hunting a man who had carried out a sexually motivated attack and no one was initially caught. Two years after the murder, she attacked a schoolgirl with a knife in Camberley, Surrey.

At an assessment centre Sharon Carr tried to strangle two nurses and, while in the former Bullwood Hall young offender’s institute in Hockley, Essex, for the second attack, she began bragging about killing Katie on the phone to relatives and in prison diary entries, which showed she got sexual excitement from the murder.

One entry read: “I wish I could kill you again. I promise I’d make you suffer more. Your terrified screams turn me on.” Police also found that Carr had a history of cruelty to animals and once decapitated a dog with a spade. TV criminologist Prof David Wilson said: “I see nothing in terms of Carr’s institutional behaviour which would warrant parole.”

https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/britains-youngest-female-murderer-who-25103597

Pieper Lewis Teen Killer Murders Alleged Rapist

Pieper Lewis

Pieper Lewis was a fifteen year old teen from Iowa who would fatally stab a man to death who she said repeatedly raped her. According to court documents Pieper Lewis alleged that the victim, 37 year old Zachary Brooks, repeatedly raped her a week before the murder. The teen killer would ultimately stab Zachary Brooks over thirty times causing his death. Pieper Lewis who initially charged with murder would plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Pieper Lewis would be sentenced to probation and issued a $150,000 fine

Pieper Lewis More News

A Des Moines teen who pleaded guilty to killing her alleged rapist in June 2020 will be sentenced Wednesday in a Polk County Courtroom.

Pieper Lewis, 17, was charged with killing Zachary Brooks in the early hours of June 1, 2020, when she was 15 years old. Brooks, 37, of Des Moines allegedly raped her multiple times in the weeks before Lewis killed him following another alleged assault, according to court records.

Lewis was charged with first-degree murder after her arrest on June 2, 2020.

She killed Brooks by grabbing a knife from a bedside table and stabbing him 30 times, but wrote in a plea agreement that she did not plan his murder and was overcome with “rage” after Brooks raped her yet again.

She will be sentenced at 9 a.m. Wednesday in a courtroom at the Polk County Criminal Courthouse, 110 6th Ave. 

The Des Moines Register does not typically name victims of sex crimes, but Lewis agreed to have her name used previously in stories about her case.

Lewis, who graduated from high school in July while in juvenile detention, agreed to plead guilty in adult court in June 2021 to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury.  She faces up to 10 years in prison on each charge.

Prosecutors have never disputed claims that Lewis was sexually assaulted or trafficked in court or in court documents. 

Des Moines Police detectives were curious from the beginning about Lewis’ sexual relations with much older men, according to court records. Iowa’s age for sexual consent is 16 years old. Teens ages 14 and 15 can consent with people within 48 months of their age, according to Iowa law. 

Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said in November that with extremely violent crimes like Lewis it is common for officers to learn of other crimes. Given Lewis’ age, sex between Brooks and Lewis would be a crime, he said. Human trafficking cases are some of the most complex and lengthy cases the department confronts, Parizek said in November. 

“With all criminal investigations, gathering the evidence necessary to support an accusation and to meet the standard to file criminal charges, can take some time,” Parizek said in November.

Under Iowa law perpetrators of homicides must pay victims’ families $150,000. In a July 20 court filing, Lewis’ attorneys Matthew Sheeley, Paul White and Magdalena Reese asked a Polk County judge to deny Brooks’ estate from the $150,000 because Lewis was an alleged sex trafficking victim. 

“By subjecting the defendant to human trafficking and sexual abuse on June 1, 2020, the decedent was at least 51% at fault for his own damages,” the filing said. “Such an award, as applied to this defendant and to these circumstances, would result in an excessive fine and cruel and unusual punishment.”

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2022/09/06/des-moines-sex-trafficking-victim-pieper-lewis-sentenced-killing-rapist/10233682002/

Pieper Lewis Other News

A teenage human trafficking victim who was initially charged with first-degree murder after she stabbed her accused rapist to death was sentenced Tuesday in an Iowa court to five years of closely supervised probation and ordered to pay $150,000 restitution to the man’s family.

Pieper Lewis was originally charged with first-degree murder for the stabbing death of Zachary Brooks in 2020. The 17-year-old was charged in the death of 37-year-old Brooks, who she claims raped her multiple times in the weeks before his death. She had faced the possibility of 20 years in prison.

Lewis pleaded last year to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury. Both charges were punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Polk County District judge David M. Porter on Tuesday deferred those prison sentences, meaning that if Lewis violates any portion of her probation, she could be sent to prison to serve that 20-year term.

As for being required to pay the estate of her rapist, “this court is presented with no other option,” Porter said, noting the restitution is mandatory under Iowa law that has been upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court.

Lewis was 15 when she stabbed Brooks more than 30 times in a Des Moines apartment. Officials have said Lewis was a runaway who was seeking to escape an abusive life with her adopted mother and was sleeping in the hallways of a Des Moines apartment building when a 28-year-old man took her in before forcibly trafficking her to other men for sex.

Lewis said one of those men was Brooks and that he had raped her multiple times in the weeks before his death. She recounted being forced at knifepoint by the 28-year-old man to go with Brooks to his apartment for sex. She told officials that after Brooks had raped her yet again, she grabbed a knife from a bedside table and stabbed Brooks in a fit of rage.

Police and prosecutors have not disputed that Lewis was sexually assaulted and trafficked. But prosecutors have argued that Brooks was asleep at the time he was stabbed and not an immediate danger to Lewis.

Iowa is not among the dozens of states that have a so-called safe harbor law that gives trafficking victims at least some level of criminal immunity.

Lewis, who earned her GED while being held in juvenile detention, acknowledged in a statement prior to her sentencing that she struggled with the structure of her detention, including “why I was treated like fragile glass” or wasn’t allowed to communicate with her friends or family.

“My spirit has been burned, but still glows through the flames,” she read from a statement she had prepared. “Hear me roar, see me glow, and watch me grow.”

“I am a survivor,” she added.

The judge peppered Lewis with repeated requests to explain what poor choices she made that led up to Brooks’ stabbing and expressed concern that she sometimes did not want to follow rules set for her in juvenile lockup.

“The next five years of your life will be full of rules you disagree with, I’m sure of it,” Porter said. He later added, “This is the second chance that you’ve asked for. You don’t get a third.”

Her attorney said after the sentencing that they were extremely happy with the outcome.

“Very pleased at the court decision. Going into this case we assumed the worst she was initially charged with first-degree murder,” said Matt Sheeley.

Lewis’ attorney argued in court that requiring her to pay restitution to the family of the man who raped her was cruel and unusual punishment. Her attorney said that there may be action taken down the line, aimed at the current restitution precedent set at the Iowa Supreme Court. But added that this was a win.

“That is not the most important pressing concern that she has. She wants to move on with her life. She has got her entire life ahead of her. She has all these opportunities ahead of her. So the restitution is not really something she is bothered by at this point,” said Sheeley.

Lewis will be required to undergo mental health and substance abuse evaluation as well as GPS tracking and monitoring. She will not be eligible for early release from probation.

https://ktla.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/iowa-teen-who-killed-rapist-avoids-prison-ordered-to-pay-150000/