A 15-year-old girl arrested in a sex trafficking plot will be sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty to murdering her alleged rapist by stabbing him 30 times.
On June 1, 2020, Pieper Lewis, 17, will be charged with murdering Zachary Brooks, 37, at a Des Moines, Iowa residence located at 1515 Evergreen Avenue. Lewis was allegedly repeatedly raped by Brooks before she murdered him.
Lewis murdered her attacker after he raped her. She discovered the knife on the bedside table and repeatedly stabbed him.
The teen asserted that the murder was not premeditated and that her actions were motivated by ‘anger.’
According to the Des Moines Register, she was arrested for murder on June 2, 2020, and will be sentenced at the Polk County Criminal Courthouse on Wednesday morning.
Since her arrest, the victim has been incarcerated, and she graduated from high school in July. She pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and intentional injury in 2021 and faces decades in jail.
Matthew Sheeley, Lewis’s attorney, was not immediately available for comment.
On June 1, 2020, Pieper Lewis, 17, will appear in court in Iowa for the murder of Zachary Brooks, 37. Lewis stated that she had been a victim of sex trafficking.
She was arrested for murder on June 2, 2020, after police got a call alleging Brooks’ death was a suicide the night of the event.
Wednesday, Lewis will appear at the Polk County Criminal Courthouse
The interactions between the 17-year-old and older men were examined by police, according to court documents obtained by the Des Moines Register.
The legal age of consent for sexual activity in Iowa is 16. Those younger than 13 cannot consent to sexual activity, however those between 14 and 15 can consent to sexual activity within 48 months after reaching that age.
Lewis was 15 years old when she was allegedly repeatedly raped.
On the evening that Brooks was murdered in 2020, someone reported a suicide. According to KCCI, when police later came and discovered the deceased, it did not appear like he had committed suicide.
The arrest of the 15-year-old went viral, but her identity was withheld at the time.
Brooks was found dead at the Iowa residence (above) after a suicide was reported in 2020.
The police probed the links between Lewis and older men. Lewis was 15 when she was reportedly raped, and the legal age of consent for sexual activity in Iowa is 16.
Those responsible for a homicide in Iowa are liable to pay $150,000 to the victims’ families, according to state law. The counsel for 17-year-old Lewis, who was a victim of a crime, argued that this statute should be disregarded.
In November, Des Moines Police Sergeant Paul Parizek stated that human trafficking cases are usually the most difficult to investigate and that Lewis’ case will require time to be thoroughly investigated.
Parizek told the Des Moines Register that in any criminal investigations, acquiring the necessary evidence to sustain an accusation and meet the criteria for filing criminal charges might take some time.
Brooks’ acts would have been illegal under the law because Lewis was young and did not agree.