The family of Kaylee Gain, the teen hospitalized following the viral fight near Hazelwood East High School in Missouri, has acknowledged her alleged attacker’s desire to apologize.
Their response comes after a judge said the state must determine if 15-year-old Maurnice DeClue will be tried as an adult in this case, KTVI reported.
The teen was charged with assault and has been in the custody of St. Louis County Family Court since the altercation in early March that left Gain, 16, with severe injuries.
Video captured the accused slamming Gain’s head on the pavement multiple times.
While local officials and Gain’s family suggested that DeClue should receive a harsher charge, the county juvenile attorneys requested an additional 30 days to finish a report that highlights her background, according to the report.
The hearing to determine whether DeClue shall be certified as an adult for the case is scheduled for Wednesday, May 10.
“Our position is that she should not be certified. We understand that the law says that there has to be a certification hearing based on what she has been charged with,” DeClue’s attorney, Greg Smith, told Fox 2 Now.
“Everything is out there, about her being an honor student, she was taking AP courses, she has no history with the juvenile court,” he continued. “She has been the victim of bullying. There are other facts that we are going to save for court.”
Gain’s family’s lawyer Bryan Kaemmerer has based the push for increased punishment against DeClue on unverified social media posts.
In a statement released on March 29, the attorney claims Gain’s parents have seen now deleted posts on social media that show “an utter lack of remorse” from the 15-year-old Black honor roll teen.
While admitting the posts have not been verified, Kaemmerer says the “timing of when they were made suggest that the accused did, in fact, make them.”
“In one post, the accused admits ‘this was calculated,’…
Read the full article here
