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As
of Thursday morning, a GoFundMe fundraiser for Pieper Lewis, 17,
had raised more than $340,000, well past its $200,000 goal, less
than two days after a judge sentenced the Des Moines teen in the
killing of her accused rapist, whom she stabbed to death in
2020.
"As the donations have increased, I am overjoyed with the
prospect of removing this burden from Pieper," said Leland
Schipper, her former high school math teacher, who set up the
page to help pay the restitution and for her education.
Lewis pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and willful
injury in June 2021, a year after she killed Zachary Brooks, 37,
in Des Moines. Lewis was 15 years old and homeless when she met
Brooks in May 2020.
Lewis said she was a victim of sex trafficking and that Brooks
sexually assaulted her on the night they met and again the night
she stabbed him to death in a fit of rage while he slept.
"My story can change things. My story has changed me," Lewis
said during her sentencing hearing on Tuesday. "The events that
took place on that horrific day cannot be changed, as much as I
wish I could."
During the hearing, Polk County District Judge David Porter
sentenced Lewis to five years probation and ordered her to
perform 1,200 hours of community service. He also ordered her to
pay $150,000 to Brooks' family, saying he was bound by Iowa law
to require her to pay restitution, the Des Moines Register
reported.
Her attorneys were considering appealing the restitution order.
The office of Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said donations
can be used to pay the restitution, the Des Moines Register
reported.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; editing by Jonathan
Oatis)
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