Featured Image Credit: Polk County Court/KCCI 8
Topics: US News
Anish Vij
The GoFundMe for the teenager who killed her alleged rapist has raised double the amount she was ordered to pay his family in compensation.
At the age of 15, Pieper Lewis stabbed Zachary Brooks, 37, more than 30 times in a flat in Des Moines.
Lewis claims that he raped her multiple times.
Following a court verdict, Lewis, now aged 17, has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and wilful injury.
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The court ordered Lewis to pay $150,000 (£130,350) to his family, along with five years of probation.
As a result, Lewis' teacher, Leland Schipper, set up a GoFundMe for the full amount, which has now doubled in donations.
After raising the initial goal from $150,000 (£130,350) - $200,000 (£174,440), the donations have increased to $382,182 (£333,340).
Schipper said: "The funds will be used in the following ways: 1) Pay off Piepers 150k restitution; 2) Pay off the additional 4k in restitution to the state; 3) Remove financial barriers for Pieper in pursuing college/university or starting her own business; 4) Give Pieper the financial capacity to explore ways to help other young victims of sex crimes! Thank you! You are all amazing."
She added: "Pieper has five years of probation ahead of her; five years that she will be required to be nearly perfect to avoid facing 20 years in prison. She will do hundreds of hours of community service each year.
"She will be subject to drug testing, required to take classes, and attend therapy. Pieper’s path to true freedom will not be easy, and she is still a teenager that has experienced a lot of trauma.
"Pieper wants to go to college, she wants to create art, and she wants to advocate for other girls who find themselves in situations like she endured. She does not deserve a massive debt looming over her, holding her back from pursuing her ambitions.
"Our system if broken. It will take decades of advocacy and electing people committed to rethinking and reimagining our criminal justice system, especially our juvenile one, to fix the system."
Following the charges, Lewis said in a statement: "My spirit has been burned, but still glows through the flames.
"Hear me roar, see me glow, and watch me grow. I am a survivor."
She added: "I took a person's life. My intentions that day were not to just to go out and take somebody's life.
"In my mind I felt that I wasn't safe and I felt that I was in danger, which resulted in the acts.
"But it doesn't take away from the fact that a crime was committed."
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