Washington, DC
An Iowa teenager who killed a man accused of raping her and was forced by a court to pay her family $150,000 received a large sum of money in donations Thursday.
Earlier this week, Pieper Lewis, 17, was sentenced to five years probation and community service for the stabbing death of Zachary Brooks in June 2020.
Lewis, who was 15 at the time and had run away from home, accused Brooks, 37, of repeatedly raping her.
She was initially charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Judge David Porter sentenced Lewis to probation but also ordered him to pay $150,000 in restitution to the Brooks family, arguing that state law gave him no choice.
The ruling caused a stir and a former teacher of Lewis, Leland Schipper, organized a collection through the platform GoFundMe to raise funds for the teenager. “A child who has been raped should, under no circumstances, owe the rapist’s family money,” Schipper said in an online post.
As of Thursday followingnoon, GoFundMe had raised nearly $390,000.
