Teen who escaped while serving probation for killing her rapist back in custody

Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Pieper Lewis, a teenage Iowa sex-trafficking victim convicted of killing her convicted rapist, is back in custody Wednesday after having escaped.

Pieper was booked back into custody Tuesday afternoon, according to the Polk County, Iowa Sheriff's Office.

She escaped from a probation center last week, after cutting off her GPS tracker.

Lewis pleaded guilty in September to voluntary manslaughter for stabbing Zachary Brooks to death in his apartment on June 1, 2020. She said in court documents that she didn't want to have sex with him but woke up to him raping her. She was 15 at the time.

She was sentenced to five years probation at the Fresh Start Women's Center and was also ordered to do 1,200 hours of community service and to pay $150,000 in compensation for Brooks' death.

Lewis told investigators that she was a sex-trafficking victim of another man. That man has not yet been charged.

Prosecutors want Lewis' probation revoked for her escape at a hearing. If a judge agrees, Lewis could serve a full 20-year sentence.

Following her escape authorities were not able to locate her for three days.

A probation violation report said that somebody opened a door at Fresh Start that set off an alarm and alerted a residential officer about the escape. An officer then saw Lewis leaving the building.