Teen gets 3 to 9 years in prison for fatally injuring Mount Vernon cheerleader
A teenage girl has been sentenced to nine years in prison as part of a plea deal for fatally stabbing a 16-year-old Mount Vernon cheerleader after a school holiday.
The 15-year-old, who has not been identified, was sentenced Tuesday by a judge to three to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter last December, the Westchester County District Attorney’s office said.
A teenager stabbed Kayla Green during a big brawl after a parade in Mount Vernon celebrating the state championship won by the high school basketball team.
The fatal event took place in Westchester last April and was the result of a cheerleading rivalry.
Green, a sophomore, was the captain of her school’s junior varsity cheerleading squad; defendant was a member of an independent cheerleading club of which Green was a former member.
According to prosecutors, the victim was stabbed in the stomach and tragically declared dead after she was taken to the hospital.
Judge Susan Kakache laid out the motive in court on Tuesday.
“Long-standing rivalry between two cheerleaders in the city of Mount Vernon,” Kakache said, according to CBS 2.
The defendant apologized in court before sentencing.
“I’m sorry that my actions took my elder sister away. I’m sorry my actions took my daughter,” the girl said, according to Lohud.com, admitting she made the “wrong choice” that caused heartache to those close to Green.
According to the newspaper, Green’s relatives consider the sentence and apology to the defendant insufficient. They claimed that the accused would soon be released from prison.
“Her killer comes out in three years to live his life, have a family, make a career. My daughter will never see this,” victim’s mother Laverne Gordon said, according to CBS 2.
Shortly after celebrating the recognition of the basketball team’s 12th state title, a massive brawl erupted, which was captured on a mobile phone camera.
District Attorney Mimi Roca said the fatal stabbing “devastated the community.”
“The teenage defendant needlessly took the life of Kayla Greene and in doing so devastated the community,” The Rock said in a statement.
“As the Mount Vernon family and community continue to mourn, I want to renew my commitment to working with our vital community partners to meaningfully prevent violence and interference, especially against our youth.
“I know that nothing can take away the pain of losing a child. My office will do everything possible within the laws of New York to prosecute in these cases.”
The maximum sentence a teenager could receive was between 3 and 10 years as a juvenile delinquent in New York, the district attorney’s office said.
She will serve time in a juvenile detention center until she turns 18, at which point she will be taken into custody by the state Department of Corrections, the district attorney’s office said.
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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.