Surprising Twist In Case of Black Teen Recorded Severely Beating Kaylee Gain
On March 8, 16-year-old Kaylee Gain and 15-year-old Maurnice Declue were seen scuffling in the parking lot of Hazelwood East High School. Video footage of the incident shows Declue punching Gain repeatedly in the head and Gain struggles to push her off. Declue then cradles Gain and smashes her head on the ground four times. The camera pans away to another group of teens who began fighting. When the camera pans back to Gain, she is still on the ground appearing to have a seizure.
Gain suffered injuries resulting in surgery to reattach part of her skull following brain swelling, per KSDK. She was in a coma for days.
The incident sparked outrage across social media, leading politicians including the Missouri Attorney General to call on the courts to prosecute Declue on assault charges as an adult. However, a juvenile officer testified in court weeks ago that Gain, the white child, was a known “serial bully” who tormented Declue days leading up to the fight, per First Alert 4 News. Declue’s defense attorney claimed Gain was the one who initiated the fight from the video.
Luckily for Declue, her good behavior while in juvenile custody is what gave her the green light to avoid being punished like she’s grown.
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The recommendation that Declue be tried as a juvenile didn’t come as a surprise given Declue’s lack of a juvenile record. In juvenile court, juvenile officers who serve much like prosecutors in the adult system put heavy emphasis on a minor’s history, academic disciplinary record and character before recommending certification to stand trial as an adult for a crime.
In the May 10 hearing, the officer said she reviewed Declue’s school records and the police report on the March 8 incident as well as met with Declue and her parents multiple times since she was put in detention March 9.
“We look for repetitive types of offenses and this is not part of a repetitive pattern,” the officer told the court. “If she remained in the juvenile system, she would respond well and engage and communicate well with the court.”
The officer said Declue has achieved the highest category for good behavior while she’s been in custody because she’s had “no negative behavior incidents, she’s been respectful and consistently follows rules.”
Gain is continuing on the road to recovery with speech and physical therapy, her family tells The New York Post. In a statement, the family said they respect the decision to continue the case in juvenile court.
Declue is up against a first-degree assault charge but will remain incarcerated after a judge denied the motion to release her to her parents on house arrest conditions. Her family maintains her actions were out of self-defense.
