Three students have been charged in connection with the death of Amy Joyner-Francis on April 21 at Howard High School of Technology, Wilmington
Delaware Department of Justice prosecutors will seek to try one of the three as an adult.
A Justice Department release stated that the Medical Examiner’s office ruled that Amy’s cause of death was sudden cardiac death due to large atrial septal defect with a contributing factor being physical and emotional stress due to a physical assault.
The autopsy did not detect any internal injuries or significant blunt force injuries.
The statement said Joyner was vulnerable, due to a pre-existing heart condition, but the death would not have occurred had she not been assaulted.
Although three girls were involved in planning a confrontation with Amy on April 21, only one teen, identified as Trinity Carr, actually hit Amy.
Therefore, the charges against two of the three girls involved in the incident do not involve actually striking Joyner Francis.
Trinity Carr, 16, was charged earlier today with Criminally Negligent Homicide. Criminally Negligent Homicide is punishable by up to eight years in prison.
The other two girls, Zion Snow and Chakeira Wright, were charged earlier with criminal conspiracy in connection with the incident in the Howard High bathroom.
Delaware law does not allow for a charge of conspiracy to commit negligent homicide. Therefore, Snow and Wright were charged with third degree criminal conspiracy, which is the highest level of criminal conspiracy allowed by law given the facts of this case.
Third degree criminal conspiracy is punishable by up to one year in prison. Because neither Snow nor Wright have any prior juvenile arrests or convictions, and because they did not physically assault Amy, they will be tried as juveniles in Family Court.
An announcement on the case had been delayed as Wilmington Police investigators and state prosecutors continued to look at the evidence.
Police and prosecutors took the unusual step of releasing the names of the three teens charged in the case. Normally, only individuals slated to be charged as adults are identified.
