CLAYTON — A judge has ruled that the 15-year-old girl charged with beating another girl near Hazelwood East High School this year will not face adult charges.
The case will instead remain in juvenile court, John O’Sullivan, spokesperson for ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Courts, said on Wednesday.
At a hearing this month juvenile court officials recommended the girl, Maurnice DeClue, remain in juvenile court, noting that she is relatively young and had no prior criminal record. Judge Jason Dodson had the final say, and he agreed with the recommendation.
Maurnice is accused of beating 16-year-old Kaylee Gain during a March 8 brawl and leaving Kaylee with a skull fracture and brain bleeding. A viral video of the fight showed Kaylee’s head being repeatedly smashed into the concrete.
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The incident garnered national media attention and sparked calls for Maurnice to be charged as an adult.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey also launched an investigation into how diversity and inclusion practices in the school district “contributed†to the beating. Maurnice is Black and Kaylee is white, but officials said they had no evidence that race played a role in the fight.
Bailey also noted that no school resource officers were present at the time of the fight, but it happened after school hours and about a quarter-mile from Hazelwood East’s school grounds.
The district has filed an ethics complaint against Bailey over the investigation.
At the May 10 hearing, Maurnice’s lawyer, Greg Smith, noted that the police report indicated Kaylee threw the first punch, and Maurnice’s mother argued that her daughter had no intention of severely injuring Kaylee.
Kaylee’s family had called for Maurnice to be charged as an adult in recent months, but they stopped short of that at the hearing.
They said in a statement then that they “trust the judicial process,†and Kaylee’s stepmother said during the hearing that “a terrible choice made by two girls to solve their problems with violence caused one to go too far.â€
"This is a child — let's not forget that," the girl's lawyer said after the hearing. "That's why we have juvenile court."