Dekayla Dansberry | Homicide Watch Chicago

13-year-old girl and her mother charged with murder for fatal stabbing of honor roll student De'Kayla Dansberry

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 18 May 2016 09:43:12 -0500

By MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

De’Kayla Dansberry | Facebook

“I killed her. I killed her.”

It’s what the 13-year-old girl who fatally stabbed De’Kayla Dansberry, 15, in the chest said as she washed blood off the murder weapon minutes after after the two got into fight, according to eyewitness testimony.

“Oh Jesus,” Dansberry’s mother, Sharon, whispered as she watched the proceedings.

The girl charged with the slaying wore a pink hoodie and left the apartment with a knife, the eyewitness told authorities.

The girl’s mother, Tamika Gayden, 35, of the 6400 block of South King Drive, was charged with murder and felony contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Chicago Police said. Gayden gave the knife to her daughter, according to police.

Tamika Gayden | Chicago Police

A video of the stabbing exists, Cook County prosecutors said at the juvenile court hearing Tuesday afternoon, though they failed to say if the footage came from the cellphone of one of the many children who looked on as the fight broke out about 7:30 p.m. Saturday night in the 6500 block of South King Drive.

A second eyewitness said the girl, who’s in seventh grade, left her apartment “like she wanted to fight.” And she was “panicking” upon return as she tried to dispose of the murder weapon.

One witness said the girl was the only person she knew who had a knife at the fight, authorities said.

When asked how she intended to plea, the girl told Cook County Judge Cynthia Ramirez, in a barely audible voice, “not guilty.”

She mostly remained silent, hands behind her back in a blue county-issued uniform and looked at the floor.

DE'KAYLA DANSBERRY REMEMBERED AS HONOR ROLL STUDENT, TRACK STAR AND 'REAL FRIEND'

The girl's name is not being released because of her age. Her mother was scheduled to appear in bond court Wednesday. They lived just a block away from the murder scene.

Neither of her parents showed up to the hearing. A woman who was identified as her aunt arrived late.

Ramirez denied a request that she be released with electronic monitoring, and ordered the girl to remain in custody pending trial.

The girl’s attorney said she had “no publishable background” and was “absolutely terrified” of the situation she was in.

After the hearing, Dansberry’s father, Julian Glanton, said he didn’t know what caused the fight.

“I’m sure it was probably just children, like kid stuff. But it shouldn’t have escalated to where someone was stabbed or anything like that,” he said.

“I miss my daughter. I just want justice for whoever did this to my daughter,” Glanton said. “There’s too much crazy madness going on in the world. I’m just lost for words. I don’t know what to say.”

Pastor Corey Brooks, who ministered to Dansberry and her family from his Englewood church, said he also did not know what caused the fight.

De’Kayla Dansberry remembered as honor roll student, track star, aspiring model and 'real friend'

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 16 May 2016 19:50:46 -0500

By MITCH DUDEK, LAUREN FITZPATRICK and DANIEL BROWN
Chicago Sun-Times

De’Kayla Dansberry | Facebook

De’Kayla Dansberry imagined herself sprinting down the deep-blue track at Eastern Illinois University later this week.

Her small track team—seven girls total—from Johnson College Prep in Englewood qualified for state last week to run three relay races.

“The track is painted this pretty blue, and it feels like going to the Olympics,” Johnson Prep track coach Latrise Muhammad said Sunday. “And I just kept telling these girls, ‘This is a big deal,’ and especially De’Kayla, because she’s a freshman.’

“It turned out she was the missing piece we needed. We qualified to go downstate for all the relays because we had her,” Muhammad added.

A memorial of balloons and stuffed animals lay on the ground in front of the Parkway Gardens complex for 15 year old DeKayla Dansberry who was killed Saturday night. Corey Brooks, of New Beginnings Church, had a vigil for the 15 year old at his church. | Leslie Adkins/For the Sun-Times

But on Saturday, the 15-year-old was fatally stabbed in the chest during a fight with another girl outside the Parkway Gardens housing complex in the 6500 block of South King Drive, according to Chicago Police.

She was stabbed about 7:30 p.m. and was pronounced dead a short time later at Stroger Hospital.

Overcome with grief, Sharon Dansberry, is unable to stand during the memorial service to her 15 year old daughter Dekayla who was fatally stabbed Saturday. Corey Brooks, of New Beginnings Church had a memorial to the teen. | Leslie Adkins/For the Sun-Times

“It was some type of dispute that turned physical, and it turned into a large group watching them fight. And the other girl pulled out a knife and stabbed her,” police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Sunday. Several people have been questioned, he said, but no one was in custody as of Monday afternoon.

De’Kayla was just starting to hit her stride.

“She was finally realizing that she could do some things that she couldn’t do before and starting to embrace things and not be afraid of things,” Muhammad said.

De’Kayla joined the team toward the end of March, late in the season. Her first race was a 100-meter sprint. She won.

“And she was just like, ‘No big deal.’ She didn’t even know how special she was,” Muhammad recalled, tearing up. “She was really just a silly kid.”

In addition to helping De’Kayla with her running form, timing and baton exchange technique, Muhammad also served as her lip gloss caddie.

Balloons are released in memory of 15 year old Dekayla Dansberry Sunday in front of New Beginnings Church, 66th and King Dr. during a vigil. The teenager was fatally stabbed Saturday. | Leslie Adkins/ For the Sun-Times

“When she got finished running, every time she’d be out of breath, but she’d ask for her lip gloss. I’d be in charge of holding it when she ran. She said when she ran, the wind would take all the gloss off her lips,” she said.

“When her mother came came to a meet, I’d tell her, ‘You can be in charge of it today',” Muhammad said with a laugh.

Corey Brooks, pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago at 6620 S. King Drive, said the fatal fight was a “neighborhood skirmish, a fight between some of the girls who grew up together.”

The church organized a vigil Sunday afternoon where friends, classmates and teachers; and family members supporting De’Kayla’s distraught mother, prayed together and released white balloons into the sky.

De’Kayla, who had grown up in Englewood at the Parkway Gardens complex but had moved with relatives to the area of Ashland Avenue and Taylor Street, remained a regular at the church on Sundays, as well as at a Friday night program for teens, known as Refuge.

Brooks urged the mourners, most of them teens, to circle around De’Kayla’s mom, who had already lost a son to gun violence.

“It’s up to us to stop fighting and killing each other,” Brooks said.

De’Kayla’s childhood friend Shanice McCoy brought a photo collage she had made of the two together. They both ran, though for different schools. Once, after a meet, they both crossed the finish line and started dancing, “clapping hands and jumping around,” she said. “She was cool and funny and she played a lot.”

Shanice was with De’Kayla on Saturday evening but her mother stopped her from describing what had happened.

Staffers from the church’s youth programs described De’Kayla as polite and respectful.

Corey Brooks, of New Beginnings Church, addresses the crowd of teenagers at 66th and King Dr. during a memorial service to 15 year old Dekayla Dansberry on Sunday. The teenager was fatally stabbed Saturday. | Leslie Adkins/ For the Sun-Times

“Problems happen when you have 200 kids in one place,” Christal Wilson said. “She was not a kid we had problems with.”

Johnson Prep Principal Matthew Brown also called De’Kayla a strong student.

“At present she was getting Bs and As in all her classes and had above a 3.0 GPA,” Brown said, adding that she was on track to finish the year on the honor roll.

“She was just a good kid,” Brown said. “She was just that kid who was at school doing what she needed to do. ... As a principal, you don’t find enough time to tell her what a great job she was doing.”

Shaudae Carter, 15, broke down the first time she tried to tell reporters about her friend and fell shrieking into her girlfriends’ arms.

“You OK, baby?” her mother asked her. “No,” came the reply.

“She was a real friend, like she was fun. She wanted to do track, she wanted to be a model, she wanted to be everything like, she was just so cute and cool,” Shaudae managed to say.

“They’ve been knowing each other since they were 4 years old,” said her mother, Karen Washington. “So that’s why she’s taking it so hard.”

“They hung together, did schoolwork together, everything together,” she said. “People used to mistake them because they dressed alike.”

“It’s kind of hectic around here. They need to get rid of all this violence,” said Washington, who worries about the safety of her own children. “Every day and every night when they leave out the door, I tell them I love them, have a good day. Even when they come in, I tell them I love them.”

16-year-old DeKayla Dansberry stabbed to death during fight in Parkway Gardens

Jeff Mayes — Sun, 15 May 2016 11:39:38 -0500

Sixteen-year-old DeKayla Dansberry was fatally stabbed Saturday evening in the South Side Parkway Gardens neighborhood.

Dekayla was stabbed in the upper chest after a fight broke out about 7:30 p.m. in the 6500 block of South King Drive, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The girl was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died at 8:24 p.m., authorities said. Her home address was unknown.

Dekayla was a freshman at Johnson College Prep.

Two people were taken into custody for questioning at the scene but were later released, police said. No charges were pending as of Sunday morning.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire