Father of Jonathan Lewis, Las Vegas Teen Beaten to Death Outside School, Says His Attackers Were ‘Possessed by Hate’

The father of a Las Vegas teen beaten to death outside his high school said his son’s attackers were “possessed by hate.”

Jonathan Lewis, Jr., died last Tuesday, after spending six days on life support, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The 17-year-old student’s death was declared to have been due to complications of multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Clark County coroner, KLAS-TV reported.

His death has been classified a homicide.

On Nov. 1, police responded to a physical altercation involving Lewis and 15 assailants outside Rancho High School, a news release stated. School staff performed CPR on Lewis, who was then transported to the hospital in critical condition.

He succumbed to his injuries Nov. 7.

The teen’s father, Jonathan Lewis, Sr., said his son — a “loving and kind and generous young man” — was defending “one of his smaller friends” when the incident escalated.

"There's some things that were being stolen from him as we understand it, and he went to kind of defend him, and three of them kind of attacked him,” he said, according to KSNV-TV. “And they couldn't beat him up. So, the rest of the group joined in.”

"It's just absolute lunacy," the grieving father continued, describing a video of the attack circulating on social media. "...it just looks like these kids had just kind of gone totally mad, and they're just totally possessed by hate and anger and rage, and just don't have enough love.”

No suspects have been named and it’s unclear if any arrests have been made.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said it’s “actively investigating this incident” in a comment to The Messenger.

In a GoFundMe campaign organized to help the teen's family with emergency expenses, loved ones described Lewis, Jr., as a "devoted big brother" with the "heart of a champion."