The parents of the Kaylee Gain, a Missouri high school that suffered severe injuries after a viral fight with another teen are pushing for 15-year-old girl to be tried as adult so that she can face harsher punishment for her role in the altercation.
It comes as Gain has been recovering since waking up from a weeks-long coma and being removed from the ICU following the viral fight on March 8 that left her hospitalized with severe injuries. Her family’s attorney, Bryan Kaemmerer, told KSDK she has “limited verbal communication.”
“Kaylee also recently began speech therapy, and has gone on a few short walks with the assistance of hospital staff as she is still unable to ambulate on her own,” the attorney added in a statement. “However, Kaylee does not have any recollection of the altercation that led to her hospitalization.”
The altercation near Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis, Missouri, was caught on cellphone video. It shows a student, identified by advocates as Maurnice DeClue, slamming Gain’s head on the ground. She was charged with assault, but local officials called for her to be tried as an adult.
However, DeClue’s family says the teen wants to apologize to Gain amid more calls for her case to be sent to adult court.
DeClue’s family defended her in a petition, explaining that she was defending herself and asking officials to show compassion in her case, which they say is being weaponized to “define her character and incite racial divisions.”
They touted her as a student with many academic achievements, including being involved in the school’s orchestra and volleyball team. However, Gain’s family believes those accomplishments are being used to “downplay” what occurred, KRCG-TV reported.
“If anything, the accused reported level of intelligence suggest that she was fully capable of understanding that violence of this nature would lead to the devastating injuries that Kaylee has sustained, and therefore provides a further reason why it is appropriate for her to be tried as an adult,” Kaemmerer’s statement continued.
The statement also mentions “lack of remorse” based on unverified social media screenshots of posts made by the accused following the fight, claiming that she’s and “ongoing threat to the community,” per the outlet.
One of the loudest calls to escalate DeClue’s charges came specifically from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. He came under fire for blaming the incident on DEI policies that “promote racial divisiveness at the expense of having uniformed police officers” on the school campus. He also announced that he was launching an investigation into the matter.
His claims, which he amplified on Fox News, were later debunked by the Hazelwood School District, accusing him of spewing falsehoods and pushing his political agenda. They also noted that the altercation between Gain and DeClue occurred off school grounds and outside operating hours.
“Do you honestly believe, again, without any official verification or specific knowledge, that the fight on March 8 was a result of a racial issue between the female students that was caused by the HSD belief in the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion for all? Do you represent all citizens of Missouri? Or only the white citizens?” Hazelwood School District’s attorney Cindy Reeds Ormsby said in a letter responding to Bailey.
During an interview with KSDK, DeClue’s mother, Consuella, said that her daughter wants to apologize to Gain. However, she still doubled down on the family’s stance that DeClue was a victim.
The mother said that she would’ve transferred her daughter out of the school if she knew the extent of the bullying.
“Maurnice was not the aggressor,” she told the outlet. “This had manifested over a three-month period. My daughter was focused on her education, and I don’t know … maybe they thought she was a nerd.”
Reports show Gain was involved in another physical altercation at the high school the day before the fight with DeClue.
“She was suspended from school for fighting someone else,” attorney Greg Smith told KSDK. “And despite that, found her way back towards the neighborhood around the high school the following day at dismissal time.”
DeClue remains in custody and has a hearing this month.
