Kaelia Minor, 17: Killed By Girl During Fight Over Cell Phone
A fight between two teenagers in Washington, D.C., ended in death back in October 2016. It was then that a growing rift between 18-year-old Kyla Jones and 17-year-old Kaelia Minor escalated after the girls ran into each other on public transportation. According to Kyla, when she boarded a public bus, she saw Kaelia sitting in the back. Kyla claims she wanted to avoid a confrontation so she decided to sit near the front, but soon, Kaelia was walking toward her. Kyla kept a knife on her person for protection, so she allegedly put it on her lap so Kaelia could see that she was armed.
Kyla shared that Kaelia told her to put the knife away or she would rob her. During the argument between the girls, someone on the bus attempted to pull them apart. During the fray, Kaelia reportedly took Kyla’s phone and swiftly exited the bus. Kyla was hot on her heels and armed with her knife. The verbal incident became a physical altercation once the ladies collided at a nearby intersection.
Witnesses told authorities that during the fight, Kyla stabbed Kaelia, and once the 17-year-old was down on the ground, Kyla began searching her body for her cell phone. People at the scene claimed that Kyla was shouting that she didn’t care about Kaelia and just wanted to get her phone back. Kyla told police that she never believed Kaelia was seriously hurt, so once she located her phone, she fled the scene in an Uber and later tossed the knife in a sewer. Authorities later found the weapon.
The two girls had multiple confrontations throughout the year, but the crux of their animosity hasn’t been made clear. Kaelia Minor was a Calvin Coolidge High School senior at the time of her death. She was reportedly the captain of the dance team and a good student. Kaelia had been accepted into college and was only three blocks away from home when she was stabbed in the street.
“We forgive you. But it hurt us. Because at the end of the day, God wants us to forgive,” Kaelia’s cousin Chenna Latta said. “But it hurts so bad.”
Prosecutors initially charged Kyla with second-degree murder while armed but later allowed the teen to take a plea to lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter and carrying a dangerous weapon. In June 2017, NBC Washington reported that Kyla was sentenced to six years in prison. It was a sentence that Kaelia’s family vehemently disagreed with at the time.
“She was just taken too soon,” said Docia Proctor, Kaelia’s mother years ago. Docia also stated that she forgave Kyla for what happened that fateful day. “She was supposed to take her SAT [exam] Wednesday for college. She was supposed to graduate next year in June. She was supposed to take her school class pictures next month. No parent should have to bury their child. Just tragic for both me and the person who did this [and her family] because it’s two losses here. Nobody should have to go through this.”
