#NNPA BlackPress

Fundraiser Tops $300K for Teen Ordered to Pay Her Alleged Rapist’s Family

WASHINGTON INFORMER — The 17-year-old pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and willful injury for fatally stabbing Zachary Brooks, 37, who authorities admitted raped her multiple times in 2020 when she was 15. Brooks, whom prosecutors acknowledged purchased Pieper from a sex trafficking ring, also was accused of repeatedly drugging and beating the teen.
The post Fundraiser Tops $300K for Teen Ordered to Pay Her Alleged Rapist’s Family first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

3 years ago

September 19, 2022

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent | The Washington Informer

Pieper Lewis had never known freedom and had never enjoyed the support and guidance necessary for children to succeed.

The 17-year-old pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and willful injury for fatally stabbing Zachary Brooks, 37, who authorities admitted raped her multiple times in 2020 when she was 15.

Brooks, whom prosecutors acknowledged purchased Pieper from a sex trafficking ring, also was accused of repeatedly drugging and beating the teen.

Polk County District Judge David Porter sentenced Pieper to five years of supervised probation and ordered her to pay $150,000 restitution to the man’s family.

The judge said Iowa law required the restitution to the family, as well as $4,000 to the state.

“The court is cognizant that you and your supporters will be frustrated with the imposition of the $150,000 in restitution to Mr. Brooks’ estate,” Porter told Pieper. “This court is presented with no other option, other than which is dictated by the law of this state.”

He also told Pieper that she’s to refrain from getting into any trouble, or he’d otherwise impose a 20-year prison sentence. However, if she meets the conditions of her sentence, the court could expunge Pieper’s record.

In court, Pieper spoke about overcoming her challenging situation.

“My spirit has been burned but still glows through the flames,” she read from a prepared statement. “Hear me roar, see me glow, and watch me grow. I am a survivor.”

While support for Pieper had been elusive over the years — she was raised in foster care and shipped from home to home — her high school math teacher Leland Schipper stepped in to offer what no one had ever done.

Schipper started a GoFundMe crowdsourcing page for Pieper to help offset the cost of the $150,000 judgment and to help her restart her life.

“Today, my former student, Pieper Lewis, bravely took the microphone during her sentencing hearing and told the courtroom that her voice mattered,” Schipper wrote on the fundraising site. “I was incredibly proud of her. She was powerful, and she brought me to tears.”

Schipper said Pieper, who had already spent nearly three years in juvenile detention awaiting trial, did not deserve to spend time in an adult prison.

“Instead, the judge gave her five years of probation. He decided that 834 days she spent in juvenile detention awaiting her sentencing was enough ‘punishment’ for a then fifteen-year-old girl who had been kicked out of her home and found herself sleeping in the stairwell of one of the most dangerous apartment complexes in Des Moines,” the math teacher wrote.

The fundraising effort has netted more than $325,000 to date, and Schipper called her sentence a “compassionate outcome.”

Like many who’ve reacted to the restitution part of her sentence, Schipper asserted that Pieper “does not owe that man’s family justice.”

“Pieper does not deserve to be financially burdened for the rest of her life because the state of Iowa wrote a law that fails to give judges any discretion as to how it is applied,” he said. “This law doesn’t make sense in many cases, but in this case, it’s morally unjustifiable. A child who was raped, under no circumstances, should owe the rapist’s family money.”

The post Fundraiser Tops $300K for Teen Ordered to Pay Her Alleged Rapist’s Family appeared first on The Washington Informer.

The post Fundraiser Tops $300K for Teen Ordered to Pay Her Alleged Rapist’s Family first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

Posts by Stacy M. Brown

Up Next

COMMENTARY: Why ‘The Woman King’ Is Revolutionary

Don't Miss

Clinical Trials Show Ivermectin Does Not Benefit COVID-19 Patients, Contrary to Social Media Claims

Stacy M. Brown

Click to comment

#NNPA BlackPress

Tiguan’s AI Touchscreen & Gear Shift: VW Just Changed the Game! #2

Explore the Tiguan’s cutting-edge 12.9-inch infotainment touchscreen featuring wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, voice control, and a new AI assistant. See how VW innovatively moved the gear shifter to the steering column, enhancing the center console and navigation system! #AutoNetwork #Tiguan #Infotainment #AppleCarPlay #AndroidAuto #AISystem #NavigationSystem #CarTech #TechReview #CarInnovation #Automotive

Published

2 hours ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0xUKM6U2Lpc&autoplay=0&cc_lang_pref=en&cc_load_policy=0&color=0&controls=1&fs=1&h1=en&loop=0&rel=0

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

IN MEMORIAM: Legendary Funk Pioneer Sly Stone Dies at 82

Sly Stone’s musical approach radically reshaped popular music. He transcended genre boundaries and empowered a new generation of artists. The band’s socially conscious message and infectious rhythms sparked a wave of influence, reaching artists as diverse as Miles Davis, George Clinton, Prince, Dr. Dre, and the Roots.

Published

3 hours ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Sly and the Family Stone play the Opera House in Bournemouth. Mojo review. Photo by Simon Fernandez.

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Newswire

Sylvester “Sly” Stewart—known to the world as Sly Stone, frontman of the groundbreaking band Sly and the Family Stone—has died at the age of 82.

His family confirmed that he passed away peacefully at his Los Angeles home surrounded by loved ones, after battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other health complications.

Born March 15, 1943, in Denton, Texas, Stone moved with his family to Vallejo, California, as a child. He began recording gospel music at age 8 with his siblings in a group called the Stewart Four. By his teenage years, he had mastered multiple instruments and was already pioneering racial integration in music—an ethos that would define his career.

In 1966, Sly and his brother Freddie merged their bands to form Sly and the Family Stone, complete with a revolutionary interracial, mixed-gender lineup.

The band quickly became a commercial and cultural force with hits such as “Dance to the Music,” “Everyday People,” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”—all penned by Stone himself.

Their album “Stand!” (1969) and live performances—most notably at Woodstock—cemented their reputation, blending soul, funk, rock, gospel, and psychedelia to reflect the optimism and turmoil of their era.

As the 1970s progressed, Stone confronted personal demons. His desire to use music as a response to war, racism, and societal change culminated in the intense album “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” (1971). But drug dependency began to undermine both his health and professional life, leading to erratic behavior and band decline through the early 1980s.

Withdrawn from the public eye for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Stone staged occasional comebacks. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys in 2017, and captured public attention following the 2023 release of his memoir “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”—published under Questlove’s imprint. He also completed a biographical screenplay and was featured in Questlove’s documentary “Sly Lives!” earlier this year.

His influence endured across generations. Critics and historians repeatedly credit him with perfecting funk and creating a “progressive soul,” shaping a path for racial integration both onstage and in the broader culture.

“Rest in beats Sly Stone,” legendary Public Enemy frontman Chuck D posted on social media with an illustrative drawing of the artist. “We should thank Questlove of the Roots for keeping his fire blazing in this century.”

Emmy-winning entertainment publicist Danny Deraney also paid homage. “Rest easy Sly Stone,” Deraney posted. “You changed music (and me) forever. The time he won over Ed Sullivan’s audience in 1968. Simply magical. Freelance music publicist and Sirius XM host Eric Alper also offered a tribute.

“The funk pioneer who made the world dance, think, and get higher,” Alper wrote of Sly Stone. “His music changed everything—and it still does.”

Sly Stone is survived by three children.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

PRESS ROOM: Clyburn on 10th Anniversary of Mother Emanuel AME Church Shooting in Charleston

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06) released the following video on X, paying tribute to the 10th anniversary of the shooting that took place at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015.

Published

4 hours ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

By Congressman James E. Clyburn

WATCH HERE

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06) released the following video on X, paying tribute to the 10^th anniversary of the shooting that took place at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015.

“Over 6 years ago, the House first passed my Enhanced Background Checks Act to close the Charleston Loophole that allowed a white supremacist to obtain the gun he used to murder nine worshipers at Emanuel AME Church on June 17, 2015.

“I’ll never stop fighting to pass this law.”