A 15-year-old girl has been sentenced to just three years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder when she stabbed a competitive cheerleader to death.
Kayla Green, 16, died after she was stabbed in the stomach over a ‘long-standing’ fan rivalry during a major brawl after the Mount Vernon High School basketball team won the state championship last year.
The attacker, who has not yet been identified because she is a minor, wept in court as she apologized for killing the youth supporters’ captain, with a judge sentencing her to three to nine years, the ABC reported.
Kayla’s mother Laverne Gordon slammed the sentencing as “bullshit”.
“Today the justice system has betrayed my daughter again,” she said outside court on Tuesday.
‘Her killer will be out in three years to live his life, to have a family and a career. My daughter will never see this.”
Green was a popular youth cheer captain at Mount Vernon High School
Her grieving mother (above) slammed the court for sentencing Green’s attacker to just three to nine years in prison, rejecting the defendant’s apology
The suspect is said to be a member of the independent cheerleading club that Green was a part of before becoming captain of the JV cheerleading squad.
Judge Susan Cacace said Green’s death was the result of: “a long-standing rivalry between two cheerleading teams in the town of Mount Vernon.”
The defendant sobbed in front of the judge on Tuesday as she read a statement expressing her remorse before the verdict was handed down.
“I’m sorry my actions took my big sister. I’m sorry my actions took my daughter,” she said.
“I think of all the different choices I could have made that day that would have kept Kayla alive and spared her family this heartache. But that’s why everyone is here today, because I made a bad decision.”
Although Cacace said the defendant appeared to be remorseful for his actions, she declined to grant juvenile offender status, noting the girl had a history of violence and truancy.
“This death was avoidable,” the judge said. “It is sad that this young girl lost her life in a needless and violent attack.”
Gordon, who broke down outside court, said the girl’s apology was inadequate and criticized the judge for not handing down a longer sentence.
Under New York law, the defendant faced a maximum of 10 years in prison.
“Justice was not served today. It’s a travesty,” Gordon said. “My family is broken and our hearts will never mend for this loss of my daughter.’
Officials said Green was stabbed multiple times before being taken to a hospital where she would die from her stab wounds.
Green’s mother said her daughter had been robbed of a future, adding that “my family is broken and our hearts will never mend for this loss of my daughter.”
The defendant will serve her sentence in a juvenile detention center until she turns 18, when she will be transferred to the custody of the New York Department of Corrections.
District Attorney Mimi Rocah said in a statement, “As the Mount Vernon family and community continue to grieve, I want to reiterate my commitment to working with our key community partners for meaningful violence prevention and intervention, especially for our youth.”
“I know that nothing can heal the pain of losing a child. My office will do everything it can within the limits of New York law to seek accountability in these cases.”
A celebratory photo shows the Mount Vernon Knights and cheerleading squad, including Green, hours before the attack, the last time she was photographed alive
Mount Vernon High School was celebrating its big title in April 2022 when Green was stabbed to death and a friend was also injured in the attack.
Prosecutors told the court that the suspect had posted photos of the knife on social media the previous day and had come to the parade armed with it with the intention of harming Green.
Attorneys said the attack happened just one block from the parade while Green was sitting in a vehicle minutes after walking in the procession.
Attorneys also said a Mount Vernon police officer tried to intervene when he saw an argument break out between the two, but was unable to stop the suspect from fatally stabbing Green in the back and side.
