Two teens convicted in fatal Wilmington school fight
Police outside Howard High in Wilmington following the death of a student in April 2016. (File/WHYY)
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.
Another 17-year-old girl was convicted of conspiracy while a third girl tried in the attack was acquitted. The April 2016 fight in the bathroom at Howard High School in Wilmington ended in the death of 16-year-old girl Amy Joyner Francis.
The Family Court judge ruled on the conspiracy charges Thursday after finding a third 17-year-old girl guilty of criminally negligent homicide for her role in the fight. The judge said there was evidence that the girl found guilty of conspiracy kicked Amy Joyner-Francis. All three girls were tried as juveniles.
An autopsy found that 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.
Defense attorneys argued that Joyner-Francis’ death was unforeseeable because she had a rare heart condition undetected by her doctors.
Sentencing is set for May 23.
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