A 13-year-old Houston girl died after she was jumped by 2 classmates while walking home from school. Kashala Francis died Wednesday after slipping into a coma in an intensive care unit.
Video uploaded to social media shows 2 classmates attacking Kashala and slamming her head on the concrete. The girl’s death sparked an outpouring of commentary on social media about bullying.
In the video, the girls are seen pummeling and kicking Kashala in the head wile she is being restrained on the ground.
Kashala’s mother, Mamie Jackson, said that when Kashala came home from school on Thursday, April 18, she had bruises on her face, but she said she was fine.
On Saturday, while visiting a family member’s home, she began to feel weak, complained of a painful headache and became delirious, Jackson said.
“I drove over and I told her to get up. I said, ‘Get up, Kashala.’ She kept saying, ‘Mama, my head hurts,’ so she laid down.”
Kashala lost consciousness and Jackson called 911. The girl was rushed to Texas Children’s Hospital, where she never regained consciousness.
Jackson said doctors told her they found a brain tumor in the back of her head that caused increased intracranial pressure.
Kashala’s death was ruled a homicide, but no charges have been filed until an autopsy determines the exact cause of her death.
“Until the autopsy if finished, we don’t know,” said Vitor Senties, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department.
Jackson, who viewed the graphic video, said she saw one girl kick her daughter in the head and she heard another girl laughing.
“I can see these girls kicking her in the head while other children are laughing at her,” Jackson told KTRK.
Kashala’s death comes weeks after a similar incident in Walterboro, South Carolina, where 10-year-old RaNiya Wright died 2 days after a classroom fight.
RaNiya complained of a headache, vomited and collapsed within minutes after the fight. She never regained consciousness after she was airlifted to a children’s hospital and placed on life support.
A coroner ruled RaNiya died from a preexisting rare birth defect that caused a tangle of tiny blood vessels in her brain called an arteriovenous malformation or AVM.
No charges were filed against the 5th grader involved in the fight with RaNiya.
