Maurnice DeClue to be tried as juvenile after a Minnesota judge follows the recommendations of a juvenile officer not to have the 15 year old teen girl’s case tried as an adult after it is revealed her victim, Kaylee Gain was a serial bully who initiated the first punch along with DeClue’s excellent academic standing and no prior offences.
The 15-year-old Minnesota girl caught on video repeatedly pounding Kaylee Gain’s head onto a concrete pavement and leaving her in a coma along with permanent brain damage will not be charged as an adult, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
The decision followed testimony from a juvenile officer earlier this month, who claimed that Gain, 16, was a serial bully who tormented her attacker, Maurnice DeClue, 15.
Kaylee Gain threw first punch
It was also alleged that Gain initiated the fight and threw the first punch, and was suspended for fighting another girl just the day prior.
On Wednesday, a St. Louis judge followed the officer’s recommendation and decided that the case will remain in the juvenile court system, citing Declue’s lack of a juvenile record, KSDK reported.
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.
Gain made national headlines after footage of her confrontation with Declue outside their school on March 8 went viral.
In the clip, Declue was seen repeatedly slamming Gain’s head into the pavement, which left her in a coma with severe brain injuries, with the 15 year old only beginning to walk again two months later and still dealing with memory loss and missing part of her skull.
Serial bully vs honors student
Declue was arrested and charged with first-degree assault, and had remained in the juvenile detention system as the 15 year old waited to hear if she would be tried as an adult.
But on May 10, months after the video circulated widely on social media, a judge heard testimony from the juvenile officer that went against the initial narrative of the fight.
The officer cited both girls’ school records, and said Gain was a serial bully at her school who picked on Declue before their fight, and had been suspended the day before for another fight.
It was also recently revealed that Declue was an honor student who skipped the seventh grade, and has been said to have been on good behavior while locked up in juvenile detention.
The defense also produced several witnesses, including both girls’ teachers, who revealed Declue never before had any behavioral problems, as the officer suggested she had been baited into the fight by the serial offender.
Fallout from brawl
Spanish teacher Richard Bly praised Declue as a ‘model student’ who behaved well in his class, further revealing how her grades were so good, she had skipped the 7th grade and was one of the youngest kids in class.
Gain’s stepmother, allowed to stay anonymous, said during the same hearing: ‘A terrible choice made by two teen girls to solve their issues through violence caused one to go too far with her bare hands and a concrete road.’
She detailed how Gain has had to relearn to walk and talk as she recovers from the injuries, is still experiencing memory loss and has been forced to wear a custom-made helmet to protect her brain.
Added Declue’s mother, Consuella Declue: ‘My family, my church, we all prayed for KG [Kaylee Gain].
‘I think [my daughter] was just defending herself, I don’t think she had any intent or thought this would happen.
‘We are very sorry,’ she concluded, adding that her daughter regretted the incident, but still was acting in her self-defense.
Family dysfunction
Gain’s family said she has ‘improved considerably’ since the incident, but is still missing part of her skull and will need to undergo additional surgeries to have it reattached.
Lawyer Bryan Kaemmerer wrote in a statement: ‘While hospitalized, Kaylee underwent a craniectomy which is a neurosurgical procedure that involved removing a portion of Kaylee’s skull in order to relieve the pressure on her brain.
‘The portion of Kaylee’s skull that was removed still has not been put back in place,’ he added, weeks after the father of the St. Louis schoolgirl whose beating horrified much of the nation revealed she endured a childhood marred by drugs.
Clinton Gain, 41, Kaylee’s father told The New York Post, the pair had agreed to the fight, producing text messages between the two as proof. An account that coincided with the one that the juvenile officer tendered.
The father admitted that a period of dysfunction and instability involving him and the girl’s mother, April Nordstrom, both of whom struggled with drug addiction during the teen’s youth and led to Kaylee suffering greatly because of it.
He said her childhood continued up and down as Kaylee yearned for her mother – who he said had also kicked her drug habit – but after Kaylee moved in with her, the teen’s behavior spiraled.
Following the viral fight, the father said that both girls had been insulting each other for weeks before the fight, and ‘they both agreed to the fight, to meet up and settle what was going on.’
Declue’s attorney said the punishment through the juvenile court system ranges from:
- Community supervision – It is like probation, in which a deputy juvenile officer would supervise her and require routine meetings and any other conditions a judge would impose.
- Residential placement – A teen could be placed in a residential facility, and still go to school and get counseling, however, those facilities don’t take kids with violent convictions.
- Division of Youth Services detention facility – Depending on the order from the judge, a juvenile is remanded to the custody of the Division of Youth Services. A judge can order DYS to retain custody of the child up until the age of 19, and in rare cases, up to 21. A judge could also order their release if they complete a program successfully in custody.
Declue is to remain on house arrest at a juvenile facility with a GPS monitor until further notice.
