Three high school girls have been charged in connection with the death of 16-year-old girl in a bathroom fight last month at a Delaware high school, authorities say.
One of the girls, 16, was charged with criminally negligent homicide, while two others were charged with criminal conspiracy, according to the Delaware Attorney General’s Office.
The homicide charge is punishable by up to eight years in prison, and prosecutors say they will try to charge the teen as an adult. The conspiracy charges are punishable by up to a year in prison.
CNN is not identifying the girls, because they are all minors.
The girl who died in the fight, identified as Amy Inita Joyner-Francis, died from sudden cardiac death, the medical examiner’s office said. Joyner had pre-existing heart condition, but officials said “the cardiac incident would not have occurred if she had not been assaulted.”
The three girls charged attended Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington. They were suspended after the death on April 21 when they were questioned by police, the school district said.
City officials expressed sorrow at the violence.
“My heart is broken,” Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams said at a news conference after the incident. “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.”