A 13-year-old girl and her mother have been charged with murder in the stabbing death of a young high school track star and cheerleader in Chicago.
The teen suspect was charged as a juvenile with first-degree murder after turning herself in to police alongside her mother Tuesday morning. The teen’s mother, 35-year-old Tamika Gayden, was also charged with first-degree murder and contributing to the delinquency of a minor after police allege she supplied the knife used in the fatal attack.
Prosecutors alleged in court Tuesday that evidence overwhelmingly suggests the stabbing was premeditated.
DeKayla Dansberry, a freshman at Johnson College Prep and member of both the cheerleading and track team at the school, was fatally stabbed around 7:30 p.m. Saturday when a verbal altercation turned physical on Chicago’s South Side, police said.
“She’s a track star,” Dansberry’s mother, Shiela Dansberry said. “She’s not a fighter.”
Her mother says in the last conversation she had with her daughter, the young teen was looking forward to running in a state track meet later this week.
"It's the last thing I heard from my baby," Shiela Dansberry said. "She said she was happy about getting ready to run track, run down state. So that's the last time I talked to her."
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Prosecutors said at least two teens witnessed the fight, one of whom used her cellphone to videotape it.
“It’s heartbreaking you know,” Sheila Dansberry said. “To see adults, young kids out here fighting and they videotape it and stuff instead of breaking it up. It’s sad. I don’t know what else to say, it’s just said.”
Dansberry’s mother and father sat in court Tuesday as prosecutors described the 13-year-old suspect, who is not being named because of her age, allegedly panicking after the fight.
One witness told police the young suspect washing the knife after the fight while saying, "I killed her, I killer her," prosecutors said.
“I just want justice for whoever did this to my daughter,” said Julian Glanton, Dansberry’s father.
Police have not yet said what the teens were fighting about.
Gayden is expected to appear in court Wednesday and the teen suspect will remain in custody until her next court appearance later this month.
