Kayla Green.Photo: GoFundMe
A 15-year-old girl will be spending three to nine years in New York state prison forkilling a high school honor roll studentwho was a cheerleading star, authorities said.
The defendant, who is not being named because she is a minor,pleaded guilty last Decemberto first-degree manslaughter for the 2022 stabbing death of 16-year-old Kayla Green, according to a press release from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
“A teenage defendant senselessly took the life of Kayla Green, and in doing so, left a community devastated,” D.A. Miriam E. Rocahsaid.“As a family and the Mount Vernon community remain in mourning, I want to reiterate my commitment to working with our vital community partners for meaningful violence prevention and intervention, especially for our youth.”
“I know that nothing can cure the pain of losing a child. My Office will do what it can within the bounds of New York’s laws to seek accountability in these cases,” she added.
The Journal Newsreports Green was a captain of the junior varsity cheerleading team at Mount Vernon High School, and the defendant was a member of an independent cheerleading team Green had previously been a part of.
Prosecutors said that on April 8, 2022, the defendant stabbed Green in the abdomen with a knife she had previously shown off on social media,according to CBS2 New York. It happened minutes after Green participated in a celebration for Mount Vernon’s state champion basketball team.
The victim was taken to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, where she was pronounced dead, according to the D.A.’s office.
The defendant was arrested the same day in Dobbs Ferry, a Westchester County village located about 10 miles away from Mount Vernon, authorities said.
Prosecutors said the defendant also stabbed another teen during the incident, but those charges against her were dropped because of her age.News 12 The Bronxreported at the time that the other teen was Green’s best friend, who was expected to recover from her injuries.
Judge Susan Cacace described the motive as “a long-standing rivalry between two cheerleading squads,” according toCBS News.
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According to the page, the victim had just celebrated her 16th birthday three weeks earlier.
Green’s mom, Laverne Gordon, described the tragic loss of her daughter in court this week. “Her killer gets to get out in three years to live her life, to have family, to have a career,” she said, per CBS. “My daughter will never see that.”
source: people.com
