CLAYTON — A ºüÀêÊÓƵ County juvenile court judge will ultimately decide if a 15-year-old accused of severely beating another teen in a fight near Hazelwood East High School last week is charged as an adult if officials decide to pursue such a move.Â
Juvenile court cases are sealed until a hearing where a judge determines if the teen should be charged as an adult. At that hearing, the court's chief juvenile officer presents a case to the judge for why the child should be charged as an adult, and the child's attorney weighs in.Â
If the judge agrees with juvenile court officials, ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Prosecutor Wesley Bell takes over the case.Â
A hearing had not been scheduled as of Monday afternoon for the girl accused in the beating. It was unclear if juvenile court officials would seek one.Â
"This is sickening (and) so difficult to watch," Bell said Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter. "This is a juvenile court matter, unless it is certified ... (and) by law, certification is not our decision either. We pray the victim makes a full recovery. This is just heartbreaking."
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Outrage mounted over the weekend as a video went viral online showing the 15-year-old girl beating another girl on Friday afternoon.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ County police provided extra security at the school on Monday and investigated several threats to the school. The school had a bomb drill on Monday afternoon, several parents said, and then students were told to call their parents for early dismissal.Â
Police responded just after 2:30 p.m. Friday to a fight near the intersection of Norgate and Claudine drives in Spanish Lake, a community in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County. Officers found a girl suffering from a severe head injury. She remained in critical condition on Sunday.Â
If she is certified as an adult, the girl could be charged with first-degree assault, which is defined as when someone "attempts to kill or knowingly causes or attempts to cause serious physical injury to another person."
Missouri does not have a charge for attempted murder, which is what many people called for on social media.Â
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey was among the people calling on Monday for the girl to be tried as an adult.Â
"This evil and complete disregard for human life has no place in Missouri, or anywhere," Bailey posted on X.Â
The Hazelwood School District released a statement Saturday condemning "bullying and fighting in the community" and urging people to "take ownership and work towards a resolution for the sake of our children."Â
“The Hazelwood School District offers our sincerest condolences to everyone involved, and will offer additional emotional support from our support and crisis team to those in need,†the statement said.
The district declined to comment further on Monday morning.Â
Anaya Bluiett, whose daughter is a junior at Hazelwood East, said Monday that violence and bullying have long been problems at the school.Â
Now, she and her daughter are looking for other options.Â
"It's gotten to the point where her grades are so bad because of having to miss so much school because of the bullying," Bluiett said. "She doesn't even want to go back."
According to district records, nine students faced disciplinary action for fighting at Hazelwood East last year, ranking among the 10 most of any school in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area.Â
That number was slightly fewer than Hazelwood Central, where 11 students were disciplined, and comparable to Vashon High School in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights.Â
Blythe Bernhard of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.Â