Court Overturns Conviction In Fatal Delaware School Bathroom Attack

DOVER, Del. (CBS/AP) — Delaware's Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of a 17-year-old girl in a school bathroom attack that left a 16-year-old classmate dead.

The girl was found culpable of criminally negligent homicide by a Family Court judge and sentenced to six months in a juvenile facility for the 2016 death of Amy Joyner-Francis.

2 Teens Found Responsible For Death Of Delaware Girl In HS Bathroom Fight

An autopsy found that Joyner-Francis, who had a rare, undetected, heart condition, died of sudden cardiac death, aggravated by stress from the fight.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said no reasonable factfinder could have found that the girl acted with criminal negligence or, even if she did, that it would be unjust to blame her for Joyner-Francis' death given how unforeseeable it was that the fight would lead to a young teen dying of cardiac arrest.

In a statement to CBS3, the attorney general's office in Delaware says, "DOJ prosecutors are disappointed but respect the Court's decision."

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)