OAN’s Abril Elfi
3:21 PM – Friday, May 24, 2024
A judge has ruled that the teen accused of beating her classmate Kaylee Gain and sending her into a coma will not be charged as an adult.
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On Wednesday, a St. Louis judge stated that the case is set to remain in juvenile court after the judge reviewed the unnamed suspect’s school history and met with the girl and her family.
On March 8th, 16-year-old Gain was left severely injured after a fight broke out outside of Hazelwood East High School.
Video footage shared on social media showed the suspect attacking Gain and getting on top of her while repeatedly bashing her head into the concrete.
Gain’s family stated that even though she woke up from a coma days later she still has a long road to recovery.
Greg Smith, the adolescent’s defense lawyer, stated in court on Wednesday that Gain had previously received a school suspension for fighting with the 15-year-old and had struck her first.
Smith maintained that his client behaved well while incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility, had a stable home life, and performed well academically.
Following the fight, Gain spent months in the hospital before returning home.
She still experiences short-term memory loss, attends physical and speech therapy multiple days a week, and will soon undergo surgery to replace a missing portion of her skull, but overall, she is doing well.
Gain’s family lawyer Bryan Kaemmerer said earlier this month that she still deals with “trauma, fear and pain that have arisen from this incident.”
He also stated that Gain’s family would “respect,” the judge’s choice of whether to try the 15-year-old as an adult or juvenile.
The family of the teen suspect stated that they had received multiple threats based on their race following the incident and that the juvenile had been acting in self-defense.
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