No Justice: Syracuse boy, 13, Quietly Admits Killing Girl, 15, Avoids Adult Prison

[Sugar Cookie]

A Syracuse boy, 13, has admitted to stabbing a 15-year-old girl to death during a fight at an overnight party in Syracuse in December 2018.

The boy, Mykeem Kimbrough, avoided a murder charge earlier this year after a grand jury decided that he only intended to harm -- but not kill -- Ja’Nya Thomas in the early hours of Dec. 29 inside a North Side residence.

The grand jury considered the murder charge before ultimately deciding on a manslaughter charge, Onondaga County First Chief Assistant District Attorney Rick Trunfio told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

Murder vs. manslaughter is a minor distinction to Ja’Nya’s grieving father, Javon Thomas, who says the system failed his daughter. But it makes a huge difference in the criminal justice pipeline.

Instead of facing the chance of life in adult prison if convicted of murder, Kimbrough was quietly sent to the confidential world of Family Court, given his young age. There was no public notice of the grand jury action, nor his appearances in Family Court.

The District Attorney’s Office had no choice but to hand the case off to the County Attorney’s office, which has jurisdiction to prosecute cases in Family Court.

And the longest initial sentence allowed in Family Court, under state law, is 18 months in a secure juvenile detention facility. That can be extended by the judge if the juvenile behaves badly, up until the youth turns 18 years old.

Earlier this month, Kimbrough pleaded guilty as a juvenile delinquent to what would have been manslaughter had he been an adult, Javon Thomas told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

There’s no public record of Kimbrough’s plea under the rules of Family Court. But Javon Thomas would know the outcome: he spoke at Kimbrough’s Dec. 2 court appearance. He said the boy read a typed statement of apology, which the victim’s father said seemed coached.

Under state law, neither Javon Thomas nor her mom or any of the victim’s other relatives are allowed to know Kimbrough’s eventual punishment. Family Court Judge Julie Cecile made it clear that the maximum initial sentence allowed would be 18 months in a juvenile detention facility, Javon Thomas said. Under law, Cecile is required to consider less-restrictive measures, too. If he behaves badly, she can keep him locked up until he turns 18 years old.

That means that Kimbrough could still be of high school age when he’s released from custody, assuming he serves the maximum initial sentence but behaves while in custody.

Javon Thomas said that isn’t justice for what happened to his daughter. Had Kimbrough been an adult, he could have faced up to 25 years in prison for manslaughter.

“He got a slap on the hand,” Javon Thomas said.

Javon Thomas offered a summary of what he says happened the night of Ja’Nya’s death:

The two teenagers had gotten into a fight during the party, which continued all night inside 107 Pennsylvania Ave. Police had said only that the two were verbally arguing.

“They got into a fight. She beat him up,” Javon Thomas said, referring to Kimbrough.

That’s when Kimbrough left the party and returned with a knife. The two continued fighting, he said.

“He left, came back with a knife and stabbed her in the stomach,” Javon Thomas said.

People fled the house and no one immediately called police, Javon Thomas said, until eventually, a neighbor called 911.

When police arrived at 6:09 a.m. Dec. 29, 2018, they found Ja’Nya with a stab wound to her stomach, police said. She died later at Upstate University Hospital.

Syracuse boy, 13, quietly admits killing girl, 15, avoids adult prison: No justice, her dad says

Ja'nya Thomas was stabbed to death during a party in Syracuse Dec. 29, 2018.

www.syracuse.com

 

[Satanica]

He'll get out and do it again. If you're "go to" at 13 is getting a weapon and using it because you lost a verbal altercation, then the direction you're heading is pretty clear.

 

[Keepalowprofile]

He'll get out and do it again. If you're "go to" at 13 is getting a weapon and using it because you lost a verbal altercation, then the direction you're heading is pretty clear.

Actually, it looks like he got his ass kicked by a girl.

“They got into a fight. She beat him up,” Javon Thomas said, referring to Kimbrough.

 

[Prettypink513]

Why were they at a party so late?

 

[Sejanus]

What colour pony is he getting?
Total sham sentence.

 

[Satanica]

Actually, it looks like he got his ass kicked by a girl.

Oh, well, in that case. Yeah, I missed that it was physical.

 

[Old Man Metal]

Hopefully word will get around juvie that he got beat up by a girl.

 

[Inferus]

Only intended to "harm" with a knife. If you intend to stab anyone it's pretty clear your someone incapable of functioning in society. Do abusers get a pass for hitting a child not intending long term psychological damage or blunt force trauma? Fucking morons.

 

[JackBurton]

So it wasnt some heat of the moment, mutual combat thing?

He left, got a knife, returned and started stabbing.

How the fuck is this not murder in the 1st degree? 13 or 30, this stain should die in a cage.

SIckening the system doesnt even have the decency to inform the victims family of the punishment. It is deliberately designed as a gigantic, "FUCK YOU" to the people the justice systme SHOULD be catering to.

 

[Alf]

How the fuck is this not murder in the 1st degree?

First, the grand jury concluded he intended to hurt her, not kill her; ergo, the appropriate charge was voluntary manslaughter.

Second, even if the GJ had decided he intended to kill her he would have been charged with second-degree murder, because it's New York and they reserve first-degree murder charges for only certain cases.

--Al