Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 6 June 2017

Girls sentenced in fatal

school bathroom attack

By RANDALL CHASE
Associated Press
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A 17-year-old Delaware
girl convicted in a school bathroom attack that left a
16-year-old classmate dead was sentenced Monday
to six months in a juvenile facility.
The girl was convicted of criminally negligent homi-
cide by a Family Court judge in April in the 2016 death
of Amy Joyner-Francis. Cellphone video of the attack
shows Joyner-Francis struggling to fight back and es-
cape as she is repeatedly hit and kicked in the head
while her assailant holds on to her hair.
The convicted teen will be sent to a secure, residential
treatment program for juvenile delinquents. After her
release, she will face additional court supervision and
programs until age 19, followed by two years’ proba-
tion. She also must perform 500 hours of community
service.
In this May 30, 2017 photo, St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez stands outside the Ramsey A 17-year-old co-defendant who was convicted of
County Courthouse while waiting for a ride in St. Paul, Minn. A jury was seated Monday in the conspiracy for helping plan the attack and was seen
Yanez trial after defense attorneys unsuccessfully tried to block one of two black jurors in the final on the video kicking Joyner-Francis while she was on
group. floor was sentenced to 18 months of probation and
(David Joles/Star Tribune via AP) 300 hours of community service.
Jury seated in trial of Minnesota officer None of the defendants testified at their April trial. The In this May 30, 2017 photo, St.
Associated Press is not publishing their names because
By AMY FORLITI ing’s aftermath live on The death of Castile, an el- they are juveniles. Anthony police officer Jeron-
imo Yanez stands outside the
STEVE KARNOWSKI Facebook. ementary school cafeteria Family Court Judge Robert Coonin in April agreed Ramsey County Courthouse
Associated Press The jury is made up of 15 worker, was among a string with prosecutors that the fatal encounter was an “at- while waiting for a ride in St.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A people, three of whom are of killings of blacks by po- tack,” not a fight. Paul, Minn. A jury was seated
jury was seated Monday in alternates, though it’s not lice around the U.S. and it An autopsy found that Joyner-Francis died of sudden Monday in the Yanez trial after
the trial of a Minnesota po- clear who the alternates renewed concerns about cardiac death, aggravated by physical and emo- defense attorneys unsuccess-
fully tried to block one of two
lice officer charged in the are. Two jurors are black, how officers interact with tional stress from the April 2016 fight at Howard High black jurors in the final group.
shooting death of a black including an 18-year-old minorities. Castile’s fam- School of Technology in Wilmington. The girl had a (David Joles/Star Tribune via
motorist after defense at- Ethiopian-American wom- ily claimed the elementary rare heart condition undetected by her doctors. AP)
torneys unsuccessfully tried an whom defense attor- cafeteria worker was pro- Defense attorneys argued that her death was unfore-
to block one of two black ney Earl Gray had argued filed because of his race. seeable. Joyner-Francis warned that
jurors in the final group. didn’t understand the Minnesota Democratic “This is an extraordinarily difficult case, and it has been someone might “switch
Opening statements were criminal justice system well Gov. Mark Dayton also in- from the beginning,” Coonin said Monday, adding up,” or betray another
to follow in the trial of St. enough to follow the pro- jected his viewpoint, saying that “everyone has lost.” person. A police detective
Anthony police Officer Je- ceedings. police likely wouldn’t have “The community has lost, the defendants and their said the assailant thought
ronimo Yanez in the death The woman has been fired if Castile had been families have lost, and most importantly, Amy’s family Joyner-Francis was talking
of 32-year-old Philando in the country about 10 white. has lost,” said Coonin, who criticized social media’s about her as the possible
Castile. Prosecutors say years, and prosecutor Jeff Castile had a permit to effects on modern society, saying it filters out emotion- traitor.
Yanez, who is Latino, shot Paulsen said Yanez’s attor- carry his handgun, and the al cues that come from personal interaction. A Snapchat posting by
Castile during a traffic stop neys wanted to block the issue may come up at trial He told the girl convicted of homicide that social one of the defendants that
in a St. Paul suburb last July woman because of her after the judge ruled Mon- media had interfered with developing an “appropri- same day shows Joyner-
after Castile told the officer race. Judge William Leary day that the jury can hear ate sense of humanity” and allowed her to put ego Francis talking to her al-
that he was carrying a gun. III rejected the defense about it. Defense attorneys ahead of thoughts and feelings about the well-being leged assailant in the bath-
Prosecutors have said challenge. have said that if prosecu- of others. room, purportedly to try to
Yanez’s actions weren’t A young black man who tors bring up Castile’s per- Coonin prohibited both defendants from using social defuse the situation. The
reasonable, while Yanez’s manages a Wendy’s res- mit, they can argue that he media while serving their sentences. posting notes that the girl
attorneys have said he taurant is also on the panel. obtained it illegally in 2016 Neither girl spoke in court. Both submitted written later convicted of homi-
feared for his life. The shoot- Black representation in the because he was a marijua- statements to the judge, but the statements were not cide was “bouta fight her,”
ing captured national at- group of 15 roughly match- na user at the time. Minne- read in court. Prosecutors traced the conflict to an followed by several emojis
tention in part because es the black population of sota’s gun permit applica- online group chat the day before the attack, when
Castile’s girlfriend was in Ramsey County, which in- tion requires applicants to Joyner-Francis had offered advice to a friend about a
the car with her daughter cludes St. Paul and several state they don’t use illegal problem involving a boy, telling her friend to “just be
and streamed the shoot- suburbs. drugs.q careful.” q