WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The Delaware Supreme Court has overturned the criminally negligent homicide conviction of a girl in the fatal beating of a 16-year-old at a high school in 2016.
In its ruling released Thursday, the court ruled the girl couldn’t have foreseen the attack would cause 16-year-old Amy Inita Joyner-Francis to die from cardiac arrest.
The News Journal of Wilmington <a target=”—blank” href=”https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/2018/03/01/delaware-supreme-court-ruling-howard-high-school-fatal-bathroom-attack/386726002/?from=new-cookie”>reports</a> the girl was 17 when a judge found her guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree criminal conspiracy last year. The conspiracy conviction stands; it wasn’t appealed.
Joyner-Francis died after a violent encounter with the girl and others in a Howard High School of Technology restroom. According to state Medical Examiner Office testimony, the fight exacerbated a pre-existing heart condition leading to Joyner-Francis’s death.
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Information from: The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., <a target=”—blank” href=”http://www.delawareonline.com”>http://www.delawareonline.com</a>