A 10-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed a teenage girl to death has claimed he acted in self-defense, as a single mother grieves her only daughter.
Riley DeArmas, 13, was fatally attacked on Wednesday just before 8pm in Houston, Texas, after a mass fight broke out between two groups.
A 10 year-old-boy allegedly turned himself in and was arrested at the scene. Houston Police Department said he told investigators he stabbed the girl in ‘self-defense’.
However, Riley’s heartbroken mother, Ashley DeArmas, disagrees. ‘There was no self-defense. My daughter was attacked,’ she told KHOU 11.
DeArmas added in a fundraiser that Riley was ‘killed in a senseless act of violence’ after a ‘disagreement at school escalated into a chaotic confrontation’.
It is unclear what the youngsters were arguing about, but police said officers were called to a disturbance at the Kempwood apartment which involved 20 to 30 people.
Cops rushed to the complex on Grow Lane around 7.50pm, where they found Riley suffering from a stab wound, according to a police press release.
Houston Fire Department paramedics took Riley to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, police said.
Riley DeArmas, 13, was fatally stabbed on Wednesday just before 8pm in Houston after a large fight broke out between two groups
A ten-year-old boy turned himself in and was arrested at the scene, as he told police that he stabbed the teen girl in self-defense
‘There was no self-defense. My daughter was attacked,’ Riley’s mother, Ashley DeArmas, said
‘Right now, looks like they’re claiming the 13 year old was among 20 to 30 people that came over and started assaulting people in that apartment and that he stabbed her in self-defense,’ HPD Lieutenant Larry Crowson told the outlet.
However, her grieving mother has insisted that her daughter, who would have celebrated her fourteenth birthday next month, was not violent.
‘She was not a violent person. She would never harm anyone intentionally. The narrative that’s going around right now about my daughter, that was not Riley,’ DeArmas told the outlet.
She described her only daughter as ‘joyful, free-spirited, happy’ as well as a dancer and singer.
‘Instead of me celebrating her fourteenth birthday. I’m celebrating and trying to bury my daughter right now. These balloons could have been for her fourteenth birthday, not her death,’ DeArmas added.
Balloons of purple – her favorite color – as well as white and gold, were released by nearly 100 of Riley’s friends and family on Saturday night in honor of the teen.
Footage of the balloon release showed them drift off into the sky, as Riley’s loved ones embraced.
‘I will never get a chance to hug her, to tell her I love her, because her life was just cut so short,’ Riley’s aunt, Megan DeArmas, told the outlet.
‘She did not deserve it. She did not deserve to die,’ her mother added. Riley leaves behind her mom and two younger brothers.
On a fundraiser to support the DeArmas family and bury the teen, Riley’s mother wrote: ‘This was my only girl who was taken away from me way too soon.’
Riley’s mother, Ashley DeArmas, described her only daughter as ‘joyful, free-spirited, happy’ as well as a dancer and singer
HPD Lieutenant Larry Crowson said the boy claimed a group of 20 to 30 people began assaulting people in the apartment and he acted in self-defense
Balloons of purple- her favorite color – as well as white and gold, were released by nearly 100 of Riley’s friends and family on Saturday night in honor of the teen
‘There are no words strong enough to describe this pain. She should still be laughing, growing, and dreaming—but instead, our world has been forever changed,’ DeArmas added.
‘Losing her so suddenly and so violently has left me unimaginably brokenhearted as I try to process the pain, grief and emotional trauma.’
DeArmas said that the altercation that lead to her daughter’s death began at school and ‘escalated into a chaotic confrontation.’
The 10-year-old boy meets the minimum age of criminal responsibility ‘so charges could be filed,’ according to Crowson, who added that the decision will be up to the district attorney.
An investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
