Pieper Lewis was 15 when she stabbed the man accused of raping her in Des Moines, Iowa in June 2020. The now 17-year-old was initially charged with the first-degree murder of Zachary Brooks, 37. She later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and willful wounding – both charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison. On Tuesday, Lewis was sentenced to five years of strict supervision by Polk County District Judge David M. Porter and ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to Brooks’ family. She could be sentenced to 20 years in prison if she violates the terms of her probation. As for the payment to the alleged rapist’s estate, Judge Porter said: “In this court there is no other option.” Restitution is mandatory under Iowa law upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court. Lewis had stabbed Brooks more than 30 times in the Iowa apartment where the incident occurred. Officials said Lewis was a runaway who wanted to escape an abusive life with her stepmother. She was sleeping in the hallways of a Des Moines apartment building before she was trafficked when a 28-year-old man took her in and forcibly trafficked her to other men for sex. Lewis stated that one of those men was Brooks, who raped her several times in the weeks leading up to his death. The teenager recalled how she was forced at knifepoint by the 28-year-old to go with Brooks to his flat. She told officials she took a knife from the nightstand and stabbed Brooks in a fit of rage after he raped her again. Police and prosecutors did not dispute that Lewis was sexually assaulted or trafficked. However, prosecutors argued that Brooks was asleep at the time of the stabbing and therefore did not pose an immediate danger to Lewis. They also took issue with her calling herself a victim when she failed to take responsibility for Brooks’ murder and “left his children fatherless.” Iowa is a state without safe harbor laws that provide trafficking victims with some criminal immunity. Prosecutors also argued that Lewis waived any affirmative defense when she pleaded guilty. While in juvenile detention, Lewis admitted she struggled with the detention structure, saying she was “treated like broken glass” and was not allowed to communicate with her friends or family. He added: “My spirit has been burned, but it still shines through the flames. “Hear me roar, see me shine, and see me grow. “I am a survivor.” Lewis had previously agreed to have her name used in stories about her case. She condoned the crime but defended her actions, saying: “I took a man’s life. “My intentions that day were not just to go out and take someone’s life. In my mind, I felt unsafe and felt at risk, which resulted in the actions. But it doesn’t take me away from the fact that a crime was committed.” Judge Porter said: “The next five years of your life will be full of rules that you disagree with, I’m sure of that. “This is the second chance you asked for. You don’t get a third.” Karl Schilling with the Iowa Organization for Victim Assistance said a bill to create a safe harbor law for trafficking victims had passed the Iowa House earlier this year but stalled in the Senate amid concerns from law enforcement groups. that it was too broad.
