8 More Teenagers Face Charges in Hazelwood East Fight

Authorities have referred eight more teenagers to family court and recommended they be charged with assault in connection with the after-school fight near Hazelwood East High that hospitalized a teen girl.

Also, on Thursday, the family of the 15-year-old already charged with assault in the fight identified her as Maurnice DeClue, and said she is a “diligent and helpful” teen and an honor roll student, in their first public statement since the 15-year-old’s arrest.

{snip}

Kaylee Gain, 16, was severely injured in the fight. She was in an intensive care unit for several days, suffering from a skull fracture and brain bleeding, her family said. This past weekend she began breathing on her own and was moved out of the hospital’s ICU.

Footage of Kaylee’s beating went viral after it was posted on social media. The video showed the other teen beating Kaylee’s head into concrete on a residential street near Hazelwood East High.

We’re sadden to inform the community about a fight that occurred yesterday evening with a group of students from Hazelwood East. An altercation between two parties turns violent after the victim who has been identified as Kailee suffered a serious head injury . According to… pic.twitter.com/U1NglNxQum

— Lorrie Ann 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇸 (@LorrieAnn25) March 10, 2024

{snip}

The eight other teens were referred to the court on Monday for assault charges. They include three 16-year-old boys, a 17-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl, two 16-year-old girls and a 17-year-old girl. {snip}

{snip}

Video of the fight has attracted national attention, and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched an investigation last week into how the Hazelwood School District’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices “contributed” to the fight, which appeared to involve a Black student beating a white student.

{snip}

Cindy Reeds Ormsby, a lawyer representing Hazelwood School District, accused Bailey of racial bias and “elevating political narrative above student safety.”

The Missouri chapter of the NAACP also criticized Bailey’s investigation. “Attorney General Bailey’s blind eye to racism when the victim is Black is telling, but the use of the investigative power in his office to lift the harm suffered by a Caucasian student while ignoring the Black victims is nothing short of Jim Crow,” President Nimrod Chapel Jr. said in a statement on Wednesday. {snip}

{snip}

DeClue said her cousin has excelled academically — speaking multiple languages, playing volleyball and also the violin. She comes from a family full of doctors, lawyers and NAACP officials, she said.

{snip}