The 12-year-old girl who stabbed her brother to death would have been sentenced to life if she had been a year older under a unique Oklahoma law that allows children over 13 to be charged as adults, but will likely face a few years in jail instead a juvenile facility before being released home.
DailyMail.com does not name the child. On January 5, she stabbed her brother, Zander Lyda, three times at their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Their mother, April, was home and ran screaming into her son’s room. She thought he was having a nightmare until she noticed blood seeping through his sheets. He had been trying to sleep when his sister came down and attacked him.
The girl ran out of the house sobbing and screaming, screaming, “I’m so sorry!”
Since then she has been treated at a juvenile facility in Tulsa.
DailyMail.com does not name the child. On January 5, she stabbed her brother, Zander Lyda, three times at their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is shown to be placed in handcuffs afterwards
Zander, left, was lying in his bed trying to sleep when his sister attacked him. They are shown with their younger half-brother, who is three. He was not home at the time
The details of her case are classified, so many of the specifics of her crime remain unknown, but her mother has claimed online that medication may have played a part in the tragedy.
Under Oklahoma law, a child age 13 or older can be charged as an adult with a crime such as murder.
It’s unclear how far the girl was from her 13th birthday, but if the attack had happened after that, she could have waited five years in a juvenile facility – and the rest of her life in an adult prison.
Because she’s so young, the court case is drastically different.
After being charged, she has the option to either comply with the state’s petition – plead guilty – or ask for a trial.
If a lawsuit goes through, she could try to defend herself against insanity and even claim she was intoxicated or drastically impaired by the medication her mother claims could be to blame.
Her mother did not disclose what that drug was.
Carter Jennings, an Oklahoma criminal defense attorney who handles juvenile cases, told DailyMail.com that she would have a slim chance of succeeding with an insanity defense because she threw the knife out of her bedroom window after running away from her brother’s bleeding body. .
The child threw the knife out the window. She was trying to cover her tracks, so I don’t know how much success you’d have [with that defense.]
“We don’t really have a reduced capacity defense…even in juvenile cases they could legally file one, but based on these facts I don’t think it would be a successful defense.”
Pictured: The Family Center for Juvenile Justice in Tulsa, where the 12-year-old girl was held after the fatal stabbing in January
If found guilty or pardoned, she will likely be sentenced to time in a juvenile detention center.
There are two in Tulsa, including the Tulsa County Youth Center where she was taken after the attack.
Her sentence will be aimed at rehabilitation, and Jennings stated that the centers are “no fun.”
“It’s certainly not a prison, but in terms of juvenile facilities – they’re guarded.
“They can be held in handcuffs, eat at certain times, sleep at certain times. It’s not really a prison, but it’s very serious,” he said.
He added that it would be highly unusual for the child to remain in the facility for more than a few years – and that she would almost certainly not be there until she turned 18.
“It is unlikely to go beyond 18 due to the young age of the child. This is very unique, but if someone is placed in such an institution, it could be for six months, a year, 18 months.
April Lyda, the children’s mother, stands with her. She has vowed to seek justice for both her daughter – who she says was deeply affected by drugs – and her son
Zander Lyda who was stabbed to death on January 5 of this year in Tulsa, Oklahoma
“If you go longer, you’re looking at something unique — which is this — but the kid is just too young to have serious consequences at that age.
“The law understands that a 12-year-old may not have all the decision-making powers that an older child would have.
“Barring something crazy, she probably won’t be in an institution until she’s 18.” A few years would be reasonable.’
The Tulsa County District Attorney declined to comment, citing that the case is under seal.
It remains unclear what part of the legal process the case is now in.
In March, her mother told benefactors who donated to a family fundraising page that she was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.
“I am very supportive of her and love her very much.
“Obviously there is a lot of healing that we both need before we can ever live together again and she needs mental and emotional help after that.
“She may have permanent damage that we don’t know yet, but she hasn’t had any issues,” she said in a more recent post.
The boy’s father, Levi Lyda, has not commented.