The Maryland 16-year-old who fatally stabbed another teen outside of a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant after arguing over sweet-and-sour sauce will likely be sentenced to six years in prison for the deadly assault.
After hearing the news, the victim’s mother says the penalty “does not feel like justice,” considering she will never see her child again.
The unnamed assailant stabbed her daughter, Naima Liggon, around 2 a.m. on Aug. 27. The two were hanging out with three other girls in a car after a party the night before. They went to D.C. for a late-night snack. That’s when an argument over the condiment broke out. The dispute spilled out of the car and into the streets, and two teens were about to fight.
According to Naima’s mother, Joy Liggon, the Thomas Stone High School student tried to break up the altercation and was then stabbed by the other teen in the chest and abdomen. The injuries were so severe that the teen did not survive.
The suspect was arrested and charged with Naima’s death and was set to go on trial for first-degree murder. With this charge, she faced life in prison with a chance of parole, based on the Code of the District of Columbia § 22–2104.
However, in an unexpected change of plans, the prosecution struck up a deal with the teen’s lawyers before the trial was set to start on Dec. 4.
The teenager pleaded guilty to juvenile voluntary manslaughter charges while armed and carrying a dangerous weapon. Under the deal, the maximum penalty means she will be in a juvenile detention center until her 21st birthday.
The mother and other family members felt blindsided, stating they wanted the case to go to trial.
“What I can tell you is that it does not feel like justice that the person that took our daughter is going to be – possibly, at the maximum – in a detention center for five and a half years. It seems like it should be more than that,” Liggon said to FOX 5.
She believed that…
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