A 16-year-old student of Harding High School in St. Paul City, Minnesota, is accused of stabbing a 15-year-old boy on school premises. The incident occurred on Feb. 10 and the victim died at the Regions Hospital from his injuries.
The accused and the victim were both publicly identified for the first time Monday by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.
According to the probable cause report, the stabbing was preceded by an argument in the school hallway that escalated to a physical fight between the suspect, identified as Nosakhere Kazeem Holmes, and the now-deceased victim, Devin Scott, KROC reported.
The school’s assistant principal and another staff member tried to separate the boys. During this time, Holmes produced a knife and stabbed Scott twice in the chest and torso area, as per court records.
Scott collapsed on the ground after being stabbed, as seen in school security camera footage. Police officers were called to the scene, and the school performed life-saving measures before they arrived around 12:45 p.m. ET.
The injured boy was rushed to the Regions Hospital where he was pronounced dead. As for Holmes, the school security staff placed him under arrest and searched for the weapon used in the attack. A 4-inch bloodied knife was discovered and seized.
This incident is the year’s first homicide case in St. Paul City. The accused teen was charged with second-degree murder and prosecutors are determined to have the courts charge him as an adult.
Scott, a sophomore student, was stabbed on his very first day at the new school, his father Napolean Scott said Monday.
The victim’s younger brother reportedly was in a nearby classroom and wanted to get out to help but wasn’t allowed to leave. “I want people to know that (despite) the way he died, he wasn’t a bad person,” said the victim’s elder sister Nadia. “He had the heart of a lion.”
Classes until Friday were canceled and the school district added two St. Paul police officers to the school. Resources were also sent to four other educational institutes within the school district.
In another recent stabbing incident involving school kids, a 14-year-old allegedly attacked another teen with a box cutter on the school bus in Florida. Similar to the stabbing at Harding High, this incident too was the escalation of an altercation. The victim escaped with minor injuries while the suspect was arrested by the police.
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