WILMINGTON, Del. (AP/Wilmington News Journal) - A Delaware judge has convicted a 17-year-old girl of homicide after a school bathroom fight that left a 16-year-old girl dead.
The Family Court judge delivered his ruling Thursday after a week of testimony in the nonjury trial.
An autopsy found that Amy Joyner-Francis died of sudden cardiac death, aggravated by physical and emotional stress from the April 2016 fight at Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington.
The News Journal reports that the assailant Trinity Carr was ultimately convicted of criminally negligent homicide for her role in the fight.
Two other 17-year-olds were charged with misdemeanor conspiracy. All three, who were 16 when the fight happened, were tried as juveniles.
The News Journal reports that 0ne was convicted of third-degree criminal conspiracy, while the other was found not guilty of criminal conspiracy.
The prosecutors argued that the two planned the attack along with the assailant.
Family Court Judge Robert Coonin found that Carr "struck the first blow without warning and carried on a relatively brief but violent attack."
Defense attorneys had argued that Joyner-Francis' death was unforeseeable because she had a rare heart condition undetected by her doctors.
