The Maryland 16-year-old who fatally stabbed another teen outside of a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant after arguing over sweet-and-sour sauce will likely be sentenced to six years in prison for the deadly assault.
After hearing the news, the victim’s mother says the penalty “does not feel like justice,” considering she will never see her child again.
The unnamed assailant stabbed her daughter, Naima Liggon, around 2 a.m. on Aug. 27. The two were hanging out with three other girls in a car after a party the night before. They went to D.C. for a late-night snack. That’s when an argument over the condiment broke out. The dispute spilled out of the car and into the streets, and two teens were about to fight.
According to Naima’s mother, Joy Liggon, the Thomas Stone High School student tried to break up the altercation and was then stabbed by the other teen in the chest and abdomen. The injuries were so severe that the teen did not survive.
The suspect was arrested and charged with Naima’s death and was set to go on trial for first-degree murder. With this charge, she faced life in prison with a chance of parole, based on the Code of the District of Columbia § 22–2104.
However, in an unexpected change of plans, the prosecution struck up a deal with the teen’s lawyers before the trial was set to start on Dec. 4.
The teenager pleaded guilty to juvenile voluntary manslaughter charges while armed and carrying a dangerous weapon. Under the deal, the maximum penalty means she will be in a juvenile detention center until her 21st birthday.
The mother and other family members felt blindsided, stating they wanted the case to go to trial.
“What I can tell you is that it does not feel like justice that the person that took our daughter is going to be – possibly, at the maximum – in a detention center for five and a half years. It seems like it should be more than that,” Liggon said to FOX 5.
She believed that murder would have been “the appropriate charge” and that she feels “numb and hurt” by the outcome of the plea deal.
There were multiple factors at play, according to detectives.
Authorities said in August that the assailant alleges Naima and another girl in the car jumped her.
A detective working on the case identified video from surveillance camera evidence and accounts from witnesses to provide details of the stabbing. He was able to glean that during the sidewalk altercation, Naima was initially stabbed.
Later, as she tried to get back into the car, the girl stabbed her again with a 7 1/2-inch knife.
Immediately, the driver and two others returned to the car and took Naima to Howard University Hospital. They did not allow the suspect back in the car, leaving her on the side of the street and later identifying her to authorities.
“I saw the video— it was not self-defense. When she was retreating, you turned her around and stabbed her in the chest,” said Naima’s mom in an interview with WUSA 9 News.
Now the family waits as the teen, who is unnamed in the media because she is a minor, is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
Liggon said that the day after the plea deal was met, she continued to struggle with the agreement.
“There are days I can’t even get out of bed,” she said. What’s causing her the most stress is that the teen might not serve any time.
“There is no guarantee. The judge could give her two years of probation,” the bereaved mother said.
