A cause of death has been released for a 13-year-old Texas girl who was beaten up by schoolmates and went into a coma last month.
Kashala Francis, a seventh-grader at Attucks Middle School in Houston, has been revealed to have died of causes connected to a brain tumor, according to the autopsy report obtained by ABC News Monday.
The April 29 report from the Harris County Medical Examiner noted that Francis died of natural causes connected to complications of intracranial neoplasm, the medical term for a brain tumor. More specifically, it was a pilocytic astrocytoma tumor, according to the Houston Chronicle. A report from Cedars-Sinai said the typically benign tumor is most common in children and people who get treated typically have good outcomes.
The autopsy report found Kashala’s attack did not contribute to her death, according to KTRK.
Kashala was walking home from her middle school on April 18 when two schoolmates attacked her and a third one kicked her head, Atlanta Black Star previously reported. The incident was caught on video, and one of the girls can be heard laughing during the attack. Her mother described the incident and the aftermath to the local ABC affiliate last week.
“I can see these girls kicking her in the head while the other children are laughing at her,” Mamie Jackson tearfully told the news station.
Kashala came home with bruises on her face but insisted she was fine. By the time the weekend rolled around, however, she briefly became delusional while visiting a relative’s home. She called her mother and complained of a severe headache by Sunday morning.
“I drove over and I told her to get up,” Jackson said to KTRK. “I said, ‘Get up, Kashala.’ She kept saying, ‘Mama, my head hurts,’ so she laid down.”
Kashala went unconscious and paramedics rushed her to Texas Children’s Hospital, where doctors initially discovered the tumor. Her mother recalled, “she had fluid buildup in her brain.”
Jackson said the family did not know about the tumor until Kashala was hospitalized April 21. By Wednesday, April 24, the middle schooler had died.
Houston Police Department spokesman Victor Senties told ABC News Monday that the investigation into the incident will remain open. Authorities initially were reviewing the matter as a homicide.
“It’s likely going to get referred over to the major assault unit because of the assault incident,” Senties said. He noted that no arrests have been made in the case.
Last week, Houston Independent School District issued a statement saying it was aware of the “off-campus altercation” and that it is cooperating with local law enforcement on the probe.
