Three Delaware high school girls were charged in connection with the death of Amy Inita Joyner-Francis, 16, inside a bathroom last month.
Authorities said one of the girls, 16, was charged with criminally negligent homicide, while the other two were charged with criminal conspiracy, the Delaware Attorney General’s Office told CNN.
The three girls were not identified because they are minors.
Investigators have said that Amy was assaulted by three teen girls on April 21 in a bathroom at Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington, Delaware. The incident apparently was sparked over a boy, according to reports at the time.
A medical examiner said Amy died from a pre-existing heart condition with contributing factors. According to the report, “Amy died from a cardiac incident that she was vulnerable to because of a pre-existing heart condition, but the cardiac incident would not have occurred if she had not been assaulted.”
“At the end of the day, nothing brings Amy back,” Wilmington City Council member Sherry Dorsey Walker told ABC6. “So whatever the charges are, their issue is, Amy is never coming home.”
The state Department of Justice said only one girl physically hit Amy, Delawareonline.com reported. The girl can face as many as eight years in prison if she is convicted of criminally negligent homicide.
The two other girls will be charged with third-degree criminal conspiracy, punishable by up to one year in prison.
“My heart is broken,” Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams said after the incident, according to CNN. “I am so upset that a young lady lost her life. Things like this shouldn’t happen. My heart bleeds for the family, the kids who go to this school and the administrators, and our city.”
