ST. LOUIS COUNTY — The Hazelwood East High School student whose brutal assault gained national attention this week suffered brain bleeding and swelling, a skull fracture, frontal lobe damage and other injuries.
The injuries are according to a pair of — one created by the girl’s cousin and the other by a family friend — to assist with the family’s medical bills after the girl was “left alone on the ground to convulse.â€
“We will not know the extent of the brain damage that has occurred until she wakes up, but the path to recovery will be extremely hard on the family, not only mentally but financially,†family friend Sarah Hall wrote in the description of .
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Donations for the girl, identified in the GoFundMe campaigns only as Kaylee, totaled more than $255,000 by Thursday evening.
Kaylee’s family members declined an interview but confirmed the authenticity of the fundraisers.
“We know she has a very long road ahead of her but we remain hopeful,†reads a note from Kaylee’s parents in one of the fundraiser’s descriptions. “We are so overwhelmed by all the support and love.â€
Last Friday, Kaylee and a group of about 15 people, at least several of whom were Hazelwood East students, were involved in a fight near the high school.
It was the first of two recent instances of violence involving students after school in the past week. Justin Brooks, a 14-year-old Rose Mary Johnson Jennings Junior High School student, died after being stabbed during a fight down the street from his school on Tuesday.
Video of the incident near Hazelwood East showed Kaylee and another girl moving to strike each other, but the other girl quickly gained the upper hand. Kaylee was pinned to the ground, and her attacker bashed Kaylee’s head into a residential street several times.
“Her mother and father are staying by her side night and day hoping to bring her back to the Kaylee they know and love,†Hall wrote.
Police responded to the scene around 2:30 p.m. Friday, where they found Kaylee suffering from a head injury.
Police arrested a girl accused of the assault on Saturday. Her name has not been released because she is a juvenile.
Video of the assault has been widely shared online over the past week. It garnered national headlines and comments from state and national elected officials. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and senior Senator Josh Hawley both called for the girl accused of the assault to be tried as an adult.
The decision may ultimately be up to a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County juvenile court judge.
‘No rules in a fight’
The intersection of Norgate and Claudine drives, where the fight occurred, is in a subdivision less than a quarter-mile from Hazelwood East. The area sits between two side yards where none of the nearby houses’ windows face.
Neighbors who spoke with the Post-Dispatch this week said they were at work when the fight happened. They weren’t aware of it until they read news reports — or saw the video of the fight on social media and recognized their yards.
“’Is that — is that my neighbor’s house?’†Chemika Baker, who lives in the area, recalled thinking when she saw the video.
Christopher Peters, a senior at Hazelwood East, said he and his friends walk down the road every day to hang out, which is what they were doing when they saw a group of people start to fight.
Peters said he didn’t know either of the girls in the video, but he joined the rumble after someone began attacking one of his friends. He said the friend had tried to defend a girl who was attacked by a boy.
“I backed up because I didn’t want to be a part of it, but next thing you know they took it to the extreme,†Peters said. “That’s when the boys started jumping in, and one of them that was getting jumped was my homeboy.â€
Peters said he backed away when he noticed the girl beat the other girl’s head into the road.
“As they say, there’s no rules in a fight, but at the same time, I didn’t expect that to happen,†Peters said. “That’s why when she was doing that I backed up, because I was like, ‘That’s dangerous,’ and she probably could have died.â€
Peters said he and his friends left before the police arrived.
One student who declined to give his name said he knew Kaylee and the attacker, and the incident was all over a “petty fight.â€
“I know Kaylee was a good person,†he said. “I know the other girl was too.â€
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Post-Dispatch photographers captured February 2024 in hundreds of images. Here are just some of those photos. Edited by Jenna Jones.