Judge Convicts Teens Who Fatally Attacked Delaware Student Amy Joyner-Francis in Bathroom
16-year-old Amy Joyner-Francis was attacked by a group of classmates in a girls bathroom of a Delaware high school in April 2016. She died soon after because of an undiagnosed heart condition. A judge has made a ruling on the teenage girls who were responsible for the fatal attack that day.
Family Court Judge Robert Coonin found the oldest of the three, 17, guilty of misdemeanor conspiracy and criminally negligent homicide. The 16-year-old who kicked Joyner-Francis while she was on the ground was also convicted of conspiracy, according to Rolling Out.
The third teenager who was seen trying to pull the 17-year-old off of Joyner-Francis in the cell phone video was acquitted of conspiracy as no evidence showed that she planned to harm her classmate.
Sentencing is set for May 23. The teenagers were charged as juveniles and avoided the risk of up to eight years in prison in the case of the 17-year-old. Instead, she may only be subject to supervision and possible incarceration until she turns 19.
The defense tried to claim that Joyner-Fracis was an active participant in the fight and that the defendants couldn’t have had any idea that the outcome was a possibility.
“While it may be true that Amy Joyner-Francis, due to her condition would have died from a multitude of stressors, until such an event occurred, if at all, she had a right to live one more day, one more week, one more month or year, until her time, without a contributing cause of another,” Coonin said.
This is a sad outcome for the teens who will now become a part of the prison system. This is an even more devastating situation for the family who will never see their child again.