Texas 14 year old girl gets 25 years for teen friends murder Fort Worth Star Telegram
February 15, 2019 05:05 PM
A girl found guilty of murdering her best friend was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday.
Her sentenced was imposed immediately and she will be held in a Texas Juvenile Justice Department facility, according to Judge Alex Kim, who presided over the case. On or before her 19th birthday, the court will make a determination whether to transfer her to an adult prison or grant her some leniency.
Nylah Lightfoot, 14, died early May 29 after being taken to John Peter Smith Hospital with stab wounds to her neck and chest after a fight at the Sycamore Center Villas apartment complex in south Fort Worth. The friend who killed her has been detained since the stabbing and will receive credit for time served, according to the court.
The murder trial for Lightfoot friend began Tuesday. The now 14 year old was convicted of murder Thursday and could have been sentenced to probation or as much as 40 years in prison, according to prosecutors. The jury took about one hour and 20 minutes to convict the assailant, and one hour and 10 minutes to sentence her.
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Lightfoots mother, Anntoinette Carter, made a victims impact statement before the court shortly after sentence was announced.
When they told me it was you, it hurt, Carter told the girl. You was at my house every day.
Carter said her daughter wanted to be a makeup artist, and would sneak into her bedroom to get makeup for herself and the girl. But she will never see any of that, Carter said. She will never see her daughters prom, never see her high school diploma and never see her wedding, Carter said.
You spent her last birthday with us, Carter said, hanging her head in tears. I dont know how I come back from this.
The girl was found not guilty of an aggravated assault allegation, which arose from the teen allegedly swinging a kitchen knife at one of her other friends who tried to stop Lightfoots killing, according to the girls testimony.
The friend, also 14, grabbed the arm of the assailant who continued to swing the knife around until the friend got scared and let go of her arm, the girl testified earlier this week.
Lightfoot and the girl accused of stabbing her, who is not being identified because she is a minor, started arguing that day and early into the next morning.
The girl testified Wednesday that she moved to Fort Worth from Memphis when she was 12. The assailant and Lightfoot met at school, and their friendship grew into what the girl described as sisterhood.
But like family, the girl testified on Wednesday, they did not always get along.
I had the same arguments with her that I had with my brother, she said.
The girl testified later that she would be haunted by her decision.
Every day, every minute, every second of my life, she said. My life will never be the same.
The assailants stepfather, Antonio Kneeland, 33, of Memphis, said he had an idea what might transpire when he saw the jury pool, which was mostly white.
How could this be considered a fair trial when 91 out of the 98 jurors is a white person, Kneeland said. Ive had people who were not picked for the jury reach out to me and tell me how they feel about this county and how they felt about the Ethan Couch verdict.
Couch was sentenced to probation after driving drunk in his Ford pickup, and then striking and killing four people in 2013.
The lawyer just told me whatever number they come up with shes going to serve some time, Kneeland said. Im hoping they come back with a number like 15 to 20. If they come up with something like 30 to 40 they are trying to send a strong message that this will not be tolerated and we dont care about rehabilitation.
They will be making an example out of my daughter.
Before her 25 year sentence was announced, the assailants step father, Antonio Kneeland, talks about his step daughter facing 40 years in detention. Kneelands step daughter was found guilty of murdering her 14 year old best friend.
February 15, 2019 04:35 PM
Katie Silverman, a student at the University of Texas at Dallas, painted a memorial in honor of the victims of last years high school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Silverman is pushing for gun reforms.
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