Teen on probation for killing her alleged rapist flees: police

Pieper Lewis at her trial in 2021. (WHO)

A 19-year-old woman on probation for killing a man in Iowa who allegedly raped her multiple times has fled her probation sentence in Georgia, authorities said.

Pieper Delaney Lewis pleaded guilty in 2021 to one count each of voluntary manslaughter and intentional bodily harm for the June 2020 killing of 37-year-old Zachary Brooks, who she claimed sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions. She was 15 when she killed Brooks. Polk County District Judge David M. Porter granted a deferred judgment against Lewis, requiring her to serve five years of probation, perform 200 hours of community service and pay $150,000 in restitution to Brooks’ family.

According to a probation violation report reviewed by Law&Crime, Lewis had her bail revoked after she turned off her GPS monitoring device and fled a women’s shelter in Iowa in November 2022. After she was caught, a judge ordered her transferred to a facility approved by the Iowa Department of Corrections in May 2023 when a space became available. One such facility opened in Atlanta and DOC officials transported Lewis there in November 2023.

But Lewis became a problem almost immediately, officials said. She smuggled in a phone, left the facility without permission and missed a doctor’s appointment to meet a man, the report said. Lewis was reportedly kicked out of the facility in March 2024. After her release, she was taken to the Fulton County Probation Office to be fitted with a GPS device. She later told her probation officer that she couldn’t find a place to live and was homeless. Lewis also allegedly did not charge her GPS device, which last worked on April 6, the report said. Probation officers said they haven’t heard from her since.

“Due to the defendant’s ongoing violations, his unknown whereabouts, and the fact that this is an Interstate Compact case, the Fifth DOC is requesting the issuance of a statewide arrest warrant in this matter,” the report states.

The probation officers requested that the probation be revoked and that the prison sentence be imposed. The deferred judgment meant the charge could be removed from Lewis’ record after she served her sentence. She faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

It’s not the first time she’s escaped. According to another probation violation report filed in Polk County District Court, Lewis fled the Fresh Start Women’s Facility in Des Moines at approximately 6:19 a.m. on November 4, 2022.

“At around 6.19am the alarm sounded, informing the Residential Officer (RO) staff that a door had been opened. RO Porter then observed client Lewis exiting the facility through the A-Wing door,” the report states. “On or about November 4, 2022, defendant turned off her GPS device and fled the FSWC.”

As previously reported by Law&Crime, Judge Porter stressed at Lewis’ sentencing hearing that he was concerned that the teenager had often broken the rules while in custody.

“This is the second chance you asked for,” he allegedly told her. “You don’t get a third.”

In her original plea agreement, Lewis reportedly said she ran away from home to escape an unstable family life. She lived with a number of people until she met a man who allegedly forced her into sexual acts with other men for money and even signed her up on dating websites. This reportedly took about three to four months.

One of those other men was reportedly Brooks. He pumped her full of drugs and alcohol before raping her multiple times, Lewis claimed. When she realized what had happened, she said she stabbed him.

Lewis said she believed the man who forced her to have sex with other people was her boyfriend. However, before this final visit to Brooks’ apartment, this “friend” put a knife to her neck and cut her open because she refused to go to Brooks’ house to get marijuana and be sexually assaulted.

Describing the stabbing, Lewis said she had planned to flee Brooks’ house “at daybreak” in case he passed out drunk, but instead he plied her with vodka and marijuana, she said. She fell asleep and woke up to find him raping her, she said, according to the New York Times. Lewis said she lost consciousness.

Later, “she saw a box of KY Jelly and a knife with a black sheath lying on one of his nightstands next to his bed.” He was “passed out in his bed,” she said.

“Without thinking, I immediately grabbed the knife from his bedside table and began stabbing him,” Lewis continued.

Authorities did not dispute her abuse allegations, but prosecutors said Brooks was sleeping when Lewis stabbed him more than 30 times and argued that he posed no immediate threat to her safety.

The man who allegedly trafficked Lewis has not been charged.

Alberto Luperon and Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.

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