Defendant accused in fatal stabbing of Lanphier High School student set to go to trial

Steven Spearie, State Journal-Register
·1 min read
Lanphier High School students held a vigil for Pierre V. Scott Jr., a Lanphier senior, on November 19, 2021. Scott was fatally stabbed outside of the school two days earlier. The defendant in the case, Kamyjah A. Bias of Springfield, stands trial in Sangamon County court beginning Tuesday.
Lanphier High School students held a vigil for Pierre V. Scott Jr., a Lanphier senior, on November 19, 2021. Scott was fatally stabbed outside of the school two days earlier. The defendant in the case, Kamyjah A. Bias of Springfield, stands trial in Sangamon County court beginning Tuesday.

A Springfield teenager charged in the 2021 fatal stabbing of Lanphier High School student Pierre V. Scott Jr. outside of the school goes to trial in Sangamon County court on Tuesday.

Kamyjah A. Bias, who was 15 at the time of the stabbing and a student at Douglas-PREP, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. She was indicted by a grand jury in April and is being tried as an adult.

Bias' defense team opted for a bench trial before Chief Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin. Bias is represented by Greg Sronce.

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If convicted, Bias could face 27 to 90 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Scott had just turned 18. Another Lanphier student, Daquan R. Dunn, was also injured in the incident.

The stabbing led to walkouts by students from all three of the city's public high schools, Lanphier, Southeast and Springfield. Students were in part demanding that School District 186 implement more security measures.

Terrell McCoy, 12, releases a ballon in honor of his older brother Pierre V. Scott Jr., 18, a Lanphier High School student who was stabbed and killed outside the school, during a walk out by the students at Lanphier High School in Springfield, Ill., Friday, November 19, 2021. Students at Lanphier, along with Southeast and Springfield, held a walk out in protest over security concerns after the death of Scott and to also honor him with a moment of silence. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

Last March, the board of education unanimously approved the installation of the metal detectors in its three high schools as well as at Douglas-PREP and Lawrence Education Center and district middle schools.

Bias was also charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

Bias is being held in a juvenile detention facility in southern Illinois.

Pierre V. Scott Jr. was remembered in a vigil by Lanphier High School students on November 19, 2021, two days after Scott, a senior, was fatally stabbed outside of the school. The defendant in the case, Kamyjah A. Bias of Springfield, stands trial in Sangamon County court beginning Tuesday.
Pierre V. Scott Jr. was remembered in a vigil by Lanphier High School students on November 19, 2021, two days after Scott, a senior, was fatally stabbed outside of the school. The defendant in the case, Kamyjah A. Bias of Springfield, stands trial in Sangamon County court beginning Tuesday.

In August, the families of Scott and Dunn filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Bias, District 186, and employees at Lanphier and Douglas-PREP.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Teen accused in Lanphier student's fatal stabbing stands trial Tuesday