A 15-year-old girl pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for the fatal stabbing of a cheerleader classmate earlier this year following a Mount Vernon High School celebration.
The girl, who was not identified due to her age, has been promised a sentence of three to nine years in state prison following her plea, the Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Roach said Tuesday. Kayla Green, 16, was killed in the altercation that occurred on April 8, the same day a parade was held to honor the basketball team at Mount Vernon High School for their state championship win.
“Today, the defendant has taken responsibility for ending the life of Kayla Green and now faces consequences for this tragic and devastating incident,” Roach said. “We hope the families of all impacted by this senseless violence can begin the journey to healing.
Another student was injured at the time but was expected to make a full recovery, police said at the time. An additional assault charge regarding that injury was dropped, the district attorney’s office said.
Mount Vernon City School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A “brawl” involving some cheerleaders broke out following the off-campus festivities, according to former Mount Vernon City School Superintendent Kenneth Hamilton. Hamilton, who has since left his position, offered some details in an April livestream on the district’s Facebook page.
“Our entire community is in mourning,” Hamilton said at the time. “We lost a student to a stabbing who succumbed to her injuries but we also lost a student who was the alleged assailant. And there are two families that we are grieving with.”
Hamilton addressed parents during the livestream, urging them to pay close attention to their children and noted that the district does not have the resources or authority to monitor every individual student’s social media behavior.
“I understand that there are pages where fights are being posted and being sensationalized and where violence is being welcomed by some of our students and that really needs to stop,” Hamilton said.
Videos of the April stabbing had been posted online and circulating among students, the former superintendent said in the livestream. He asked parents to tell their kids to take those videos down as soon as possible.
An attorney representing the 15-year-old did not immediately respond to an email requesting for comment from NBC News Wednesday. She is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
