Pieper Lewis: Teen Who Killed Alleged Rapist Flees Correctional Facility in Iowa
Pieper Lewis, guilty of stabbing her accused rapist to death, has escaped from a residential correctional facility violating the probation conditions she was issued when she pled guilty.
After severing her electronic monitoring tracking device at 6:19 a.m. on Friday, Pieper Lewis, now 18, "walked away from the Fresh Start Women's Center," according to Jerry Evans, the executive director of the Iowa Department of Corrections for the Fifth Judicial District, as reported by CNN.
In June 2020, while in a frenzy over her accused rapist, Zachary Brooks, Lewis pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and willful injury.
At the age of 15, Lewis escaped an abusive home and wound herself in Des Moines, Iowa, where she was sold for drugs and lived on the streets. Christopher Brown, who pretended to be her lover but forced her to have sex with other men for money, took her in and gave her shelter.
Her attorneys said that during the same year, Mr Brown dropped her off at the apartment of a mutual acquaintance named Brooks, who then subjected her to at least 30 separate instances of rape while forcing her to drink alcohol and take intoxicating narcotics.
After taking into account the two years Lewis had previously spent in a juvenile prison and the brutality she had endured, a court in Iowa sentenced her to five years of supervised probation.
Officials have reported a violation of her probation because of her escape, and they are considering revoking it.
“A warrant for her arrest was subsequently issued that remains outstanding,” Mr Evans added.
If found guilty of the suspected probation violation, she may spend up to twenty years behind bars.
As a result of an Iowa legislation concerning homicide convictions, Lewis was sentenced to pay $150,000 in compensation to Brooks' estate. This penalty caused widespread outrage, but Lewis also gained the support of many individuals from different parts of the country.
Lewis's former math instructor, Leland Schipper, set up a GoFundMe page for her, which was quickly overwhelmed by donations. The court-ordered restitution was funded rapidly. More than $550,000 was collected to help pay for her legal fees and other costs.
Lewis testified again at her sentence that her 28-year-old roommate compelled her to have sex with Brooks. The younger man allegedly made a dating profile for Lewis and used it to set her up with other men for sexual experiences and informed her she couldn't live with him for free.
According to what Lewis stated, he threatened her with a knife and held it to her throat so she would return to see Brooks. Prosecutors claim she then stabbed Brooks in the back while he was asleep.