The parents of Amy Inita Joyner-Francis beleive justice wasn’t served for their daughter after the suspect who took her life in a fatal bathroom brawl evaded jail time.
READ: Fight At Delaware High School Leaves 16-Year-Old Dead
USA Today reports on Monday (June 5) Trinity Carr was sentenced to six months at a rehabilitation facility for her role in the death of the 16-year-old. The initial verdict happened in April with the court finding Carr guilty of crime of negligent homicide and third-degree criminal conspiracy.
The fight happened April 2016 at Howard High School of Technology. Joyner-Francis and Carr came to blows in a bathroom after an exchange on social media. Joyner-Francis fell unconscious after hitting her head on a sink in the restroom. A medical examiner later confirmed that the fight inflamed the teen’s undiagnosed pre-existing heart condition,which led to her death. Due to the overwhelming amount of teens who filmed the fight and posted it to social media, police were able to track down the three culprits.
Another teen who planned the fight, but wasn’t seen hitting Francis-Joyner, was sentenced to 18 months of community supervision. The court argued the third teen wasn’t found responsible for any criminal conspiracy.
While being housed at Grace Cottage, Carr cannot access social media and will be ordered her to complete probation and community service until she turns 21. Francis-Joyner’s mother Inita B. Joyner, didn’t speak on the ruling, but provided a letter to Carr and the court about the loss of her child. “They took another human being’s life,” the letter reads. “A child’s life, my baby’s life, and this is not acceptable in any manner.”
The family beleives because the case was tried in family court, they were unable to get the outcome they wanted. “I don’t think there will ever be anything such as closure as it pertains to this situation because Amy will never come home,” Sherry Dorsey Walker, a spokeswoman for Joyner-Francis’ family, said. “So while one of the assailants gets to be at Grace Cottage and her parents can come visit her on a regular basis that is not something Amy’s family can do.”
