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A 15-year-old girl has been handed a three-to-nine-year prison sentence for the murder of Kayla Green, a 16-year-old cheerleader, in April 2022. Green, the captain of her school's junior varsity cheerleaders, was murdered during a parade to celebrate the victory of her school's boys' basketball team.
The teenager responsible for the death of Kayla Green pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in December 2022. She is not being named because of her underage status.
Green's family, however, believes that neither the three-to-nine-year sentence nor the apology of the teenager guilty of the crime is enough.
The girl responsible for Kayla Green's death has expressed remorse for her actions
The girl responsible for Green's death expressed her remorse during the sentencing. She said:
"I think of all the different choices I could have made that day that would have left Kayla alive and saved her family this heartache. But that is why everyone is here today, because I made bad choices."
Judge Susan Cacace read out the punishment and noted that the two cheerleading teams that Kayla Green and the person accused of killing her belonged to have a history of rivalry.
Green was stabbed in the stomach by her assailant, and as a result, she was taken to the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. But it was too late to save her.
The girl responsible for her death was arrested by the police from Dobbs Ferry. Besides stabbing Green, she reportedly injured another girl in the incident.
Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah said regarding the case:
"As a family and the Mount Vernon community remain in mourning, I want to reiterate my commitment to working with our vital community partners for meaningful violence prevention and intervention, especially for our youth. I know that nothing can cure the pain of losing a child. My office will do what it can within the bounds of New York’s laws to seek accountability in these cases.”
The victim's family has blamed the school for not doing enough to stop the situation from taking place. Their attorney, Lauren Raysor, said at the trial:
"They were fully aware of what this woman, this young lady, was doing inside of that school and it was a danger to every young person who was in that school and they did nothing".
A vigil was organized in Mount Vernon after the teenager's death
A vigil was organized on April 12, 2022, after the death of Kayla Green. Members of her family spoke at the event, where they urged parents to be more involved in the lives of their children.
One of Green's family members remembered her as a "happy girl, always smiling, always happy".
Mekiyah Knox, Kayla's cheerleading coach, was also present at the event. She said:
"Kayla was a good kid! There's no reason my team should have to be up crying in the middle of the night mourning their sister. This is wrong".
The perpetrator will be serving time at a juvenile detention center until she turns 18 and the Department of Corrections takes her into custody.
