St. Louis Teen Admits To Viral Fight That Caused Brain Damage

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

August 6, 2024

Maurnice Declue will be placed on supervised probation after her charges were lessened.

A St. Louis teen has admitted to the viral fight with Kaylee Gain. Maurnice Declue will be charged with second-degree assault for the March 8 altercation that left Gain with brain damage.

Declue was originally detained as a suspect in the incident, which allegedly occurred between the two students near Hazelwood East High School. With her charges downgraded from first-degree assault, Declue admitted to her involvement. KSDK first covered the assault that made national headlines.

In the video, the teen was seen allegedly slamming Gain’s head into concrete, resulting in seizures. Declue’s lawyer, Greg Smith, expressed how the 15-year-old “accepted responsibility” for her actions.

“I think she understood the situation; she understood and accepted responsibility for her own conduct,” Smith shared. “We never believed she was guilty of assault in the first degree. That’s knowingly causing serious physical injury, suggesting that was her intent all along to cause those serious injuries. Under the situation she found herself in, she was acting under the influence of sudden passion.”

Declue spent three months in juvenile detention but has since been released. She is now under court-supervised probation. Smith suspects the appointed juvenile officer will supervise the high schooler for up to a year. She expects to return to school this fall.

As for Gain, the teenager will need another surgery to reinsert a piece of the skull initially removed. She also continues physical and mental therapy.

Given the nature of the fight, Gain’s lawyer and state politicians originally called for Declue to be tried as an adult. The attorney used a now-debunked social media post of Declue allegedly mocking the incident as the basis for the charge. Since its retraction, the attorney apologized. Moreover, a court hearing in May confirmed Gain threw the first punch.

Declue’s family, who identified her in the video, also maintains that the frequent bullying led to her intense fighting.

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