The Missouri teen accused of bashing Kaylee Gain’s head into the pavement in a viral after-school beatdown is prepared to apologize for the horrific attack, according to her family.
The suspect, who has now been identified as 15-year-old Maurnice DeClue, has been charged with assault for allegedly leaving Gain with a skull fracture and brain bleed in the March 8 attack near Hazelwood East High School in Spanish Lake.
DeClue was “dismayed to hear” that Gain was in a coma for so long and “wants to apologize” to her peer, her parents Consuela and Ronald DeClue told KSDK in a phone call.
On Monday, a lawyer for Gain’s family said the teen showed “signs of significant cognitive improvement.” However, she was repeatedly repeating herself over and over after waking from the coma.
She also has no recollection of the shocking brawl, attorney Bryan Kaemmerer said.
Gain’s family said they want DeClue charged as an adult “given the particularly violent nature of this assault, and also taking into account the devastating injuries that Kaylee has incurred,” according to the news outlet.
Authorities had not publicly identified DeClue before now, but her family issued an open letter late last week “to address the misconceptions surrounding Maurnice’s character,” KSDK reported.
They cited her honor roll status and proficiency in four languages, and pointed out that she played volleyball and violin in the school orchestra.
“I just feel for my daughter. She’s not a troublemaker, she’s not a bully,” DeClue’s mom told the outlet.
“Maurnice was not the aggressor. This had manifested over a three-month period. My daughter was focused on her education, and I don’t know… maybe they thought she was a nerd,” she added.
Consuela, 66, said investigators have compiled copies of Instagram messages that included threats to her daughter.
“My daughter said she blacked out during the fight. I didn’t know she was being bullied. I would have pulled her out of school,” she told KSDK.
Consuela also reacted to an erroneous claim by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who incorrectly assumed no guards were present at the school — and wrongly tried to link their absence and the fight to the school board’s embrace of a diversity, equity and inclusion program.
“You know, I never even heard about it,” she told the outlet about DEI. “This is not about racism. This is about two girls having a fight.”
Gain’s family has taken back previous criticism of their daughter’s alleged attacker for posting insensitive statements about the brawl on social media.
The family has since learned that the posts — including jokes that the beatdown would qualify her to “join MMA or WWE” — were shared by someone pretending to be the accused, Kaemmerer said Monday.
