Her GoFundMe raises almost $500,000 in response to the court order.
Pieper Lewis, an Iowa teen who attended Des Moines Lincoln High School, pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury at the age of 15 for the stabbing death in 2020 of Zachary Brooks.
Officials say that Lewis was a runaway from an abusive home and began sleeping in the hallways of a Des Moines apartment complex when Brooks took her in and began trafficking her to other men for sex in addition to raping her himself.
Lewis, who is now 17, faces five years of closely supervised probation, 200 hours of community service in each of the next three years, and has been ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to Brooks' family for his death. Iowa law requires those convicted of a felony that has caused the death of another person to pay $150,000. Lewis's math teacher, Leland Schipper, organized a GoFundMe for Lewis to help with the payment. So far, almost 9,000 donors have given almost $500,000.
Schipper shared that she was overjoyed that donations have surpassed the restitution amount, and she continues to raise the goal amount in hopes that the excess can be used for paying off the additional $4,000 in restitution to the state of Iowa, future college expenses or business start-up costs, and to help other victims of sexual assault and trafficking.
If you would like to donate, visit Lewis's GoFundMe page.
Dejyah Yisraèl contributed to this article through The Kingdom Magazine.
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