The mother of a 12-year-old Oklahoma girl who confessed to stabbing her nine-year-old brother to death is standing by her daughter.
On January 5, mother April Lyda was asleep when her 12-year-old daughter woke her up and claimed that she had stabbed her nine-year-old brother, Zander, in their Tulsa home, as reported by KRMG.
The child was stabbed in the chest and rushed to the hospital. He was later taken into surgery but sadly succumbed to his injuries shortly after 2:30AM.
The mother shared a statement about her family's harrowing tragedy on GoFundMe - which was started by her friends. She wrote that her children were raised as "God-fearing" and "never had behavioral issues" - at least, not until her daughter was put back on an undisclosed medication.
Lyda then went into detail on how her daughter is coping after being placed in a juvenile facility, saying that she has been "very well behaved the entire six months she has been gone".
The mom then expressed that she is "very supportive" of her child, despite the challenging circumstances, adding: "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 this, she could have permanent damage we don’t know yet, but she has not had any issues."
The name of the girl who admittedly stabbed her brother to death has not been disclosed. Her mom seems optimistic about her progress in the treatment facility.
"[S]he has a very amazing team of experts that spend almost every day with her for hours sometimes," the update says. "They have been around her this entire six months they know her pretty well, they also feel like she is telling the truth, and I believe the experts when it comes to this. She is going to treatment, for how long we do not know yet."
Lyda clarified that the medication her child took was not psychiatric, but did not want to elaborate, "because I’m not sure what all I’m allowed to share just yet".
She then wrote "She has never even yelled at me, she was happy and energetic loves school, she is not mentally ill and has not been diagnosed with anything," adding later on: "She was as normal as [your] child as any 12-year-old child who was not allowed to cuss or watch scary evil movies."
"She was just starting to rebel but she was also just going through normal teenage things, so no there were no signs that would have warned any of us that she was a threat," the mom added.
Law and Crime released bodycam footage of the 12-year-old girl being at a complete loss after the frightening incident. At one point in the video, she shouts through tears: "I’m so sorry."
"I’m so sorry," the girl says again, raising her face to the officer who has her detained. "I don’t know what the f*** happened. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what happened."
In the footage, the unnamed girl also confessed that she used a knife to stab her brother, and she eventually shows officers where she tossed the weapon after the attack.
A police officer eventually removes her hoodie and sees the series of cuts on her arms. He states that most of them look old but then spotted a newer but minor wound.
"I want to clarify something, my daughter was not a cutter," Lyda shared in her statement on GoFundMe - referring the video released by the police.
"She had old cuts from two months prior from when she was first put back on her meds and everyone agreed to take her off immediately and so I did and unfortunately it was too late the damage was done. The new cuts were from that night she attacked my precious son," the mom added.
The mom concludes the post by saying: "I feel very guilty I couldn’t protect my son, I have promised my children a million times that I would never let anything like this happen to them."
"I felt like I failed him and her both," she adds. "I know it’s not my fault and people can be so cruel and evil especially right now. Anyway with all that said, don’t believe everything you see or hear on the internet or from strangers that have never met me or my family."
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